You and Me Forever
by Strawberry Shortcake123
Summary: Part three of Our Eternity trilogy. Can stand alone. Max and Fang have been married seven years; they and their two kids are doing great. When there's suddenly big change in the air, will the family break and face defeat, or stay together and survive? FAX
1. Chapter 1

**Here it is. The final-- and longest-- installment of the Our Eternity trilogy.**

**This is the sequel to Always You and Me, which is the sequel to Becoming You and Me. You'll be able to follow this story fine without reading those, but in order to fully understand it, I would read the first two. Still, your choice.**

**A lot of you really enjoyed the first two stories, so I really hope this one lives up to those. So… here we go!**

The first thing anyone saw when they stepped into my house were the two huge pictures that I had framed and hung in the foyer years earlier. They hung side by side, both beautiful, both showing what meant the most to me.

The one on the left was an absolutely perfect picture that my mom took on my wedding day seven years earlier, when Fang and I were eighteen. The camera had zoomed in on our faces after the pastor said, "You may kiss the bride," and had caught the moment where Fang lifted my veil-- yes, I wore a veil, _and_ a long white dress-- and kissed me softly. In the picture, Fang's hand was still on the veil where it rested on my shoulder, and I was cupping his cheek.

As much as I loved that one, I think I loved the one next to it even more. It was taken before the ceremony, while we were taking the other wedding photos that my mom _insisted_ on, except it's not that formal. We were in a hallway of the church, Fang and I standing together with my head on his shoulder, each of us holding one of our children. The twins, Gracie and Devin, had been seven at the time of the wedding, not the very different teenagers they were now. Back then, they could still be picked up and held, and for this picture, that was what we had did. Devin was in Fang's arms, and Gracie was in mine, and all four of us were grinning at the camera. It caught each of our personalities perfectly: Fang's grin was a lopsided one, like he was known for; Devin had a hint of mischief in his eyes; my veil was lopsided, as I, predictably, wasn't very good at putting it on by myself; and Gracie was positively beaming, two fingers in her mouth, a habit she'd had her whole life. It had Fang and I, like the other picture, but it also had our kids, who were the spitting images of us, because they were pieces of us.

As I stood in my foyer, waiting for Fang to come home early from his job at the newspaper, it was this picture that my gaze lingered on as I anxiously crossed and uncrossed my arms. My mind wandered, and I started to wonder how much longer it would be up, how it would change. That picture used to encompass the whole life Fang and I had stumbled across when we discovered our kids in those cages at the School. Now… I wasn't so sure.

I bit my lip and stepped closer to the window beside the front door, peering out at the driveway. Still no sign of Fang. I wanted him to hurry up and get here, so I could get this over with, but another part of me was glad he was taking a while. I had absolutely no idea how he would react to what I had to tell him. We hadn't really discussed this; it just sort of happened.

I glanced at the clock. It was 1:47. If Fang got home soon, we'd have about an hour to talk alone before Gracie and Devin got home from school. It was the first day back, and as the flock had spent most of the summer in the house, it felt lonely being here alone. A couple of weeks earlier, Nudge and Gazzy had gone back to college, and Iggy, with money from his job as a blind mechanic, had moved into his own apartment on the other side of Tucson. Angel had gone with him because where he lived was closer to the school for geniuses she was attending for her senior year of high school than our house was.

Just as I stepped away from the window, deciding to take a bathroom break while I waited, Fang's car turned onto our street and pulled into the driveway. So I stayed where I was, right inside the doorway, not even budging when Fang came in and jumped when he almost bumped into me.

"What are you _doing_?" he asked, running a hand through his hair. "Jeez, you freaked me out."

"Sorry," I said, backing away a little. My heart was starting to speed up, and suddenly I wished he was still a half hour away from home. "Um, how was your day?"

"Fine," he said, tossing his car keys on the table at the end of the stairs. Then he stuck his hands in his pockets and looked at me, obviously waiting for something.

"Uh," I mumbled, "do you want, like, food? Did you have lunch?"

"Max," Fang said sternly, looking me in the eyes. "You called me at work and demanded that I come home right away. I'm here. Now tell me what's going on."

"Okay." I sighed and took his hands out of his pockets, holding them in mine. Fang was still Fang, mostly devoid of emotion, but something like this would surely give him some feelings. And I didn't know if he would be happy or mad or what. Whatever it was, though, I was going to have to face it sooner or later, and so I took a big breath and blurted it out.

"Fang, I'm pregnant."

**Oh! Drama! Right off the bat!**

**Haha, leave a first review? Please?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow, thanks for all the reviews for the first chapter! You guys are so awesome!**

**Fun fact: The whole time I was writing this story (late January to late February) I kept The Everything Pregnancy Book beside my computer because I wanted to convey Max's pregnancy realistically. Because of that, I know a lot of stuff about pregnancy I wouldn't have known otherwise, and I've taken to randomly blurting them out, which makes my family and friends look at me weird. Heh.**

**Oh, and there were a couple questions about ages. Just to clear that up, Max and Fang are twenty-five; Gracie and Devin are fourteen.**

"You're pregnant?"

I gritted my teeth, internally cursing Fang for replying to my breaking news with an emotionless question. Still holding his hands, I stared hard into his face. "Yes. I'm pregnant."

"How do you know?"

I rolled my eyes. "I took three tests, stupid."

"But, I mean…" Now his brow furrowed, showing some worry and confusion. Not the best sign in the world… "Why did you take the tests? You must have suspected it, but you didn't say anything."

Looking down at our hands, fingers entwined, both our wedding rings visible, I said, "I was getting sick and stuff, but it was usually after you left for work. I didn't tell you because… because I wasn't sure if I really was, so I waited until I was sure."

I kept my eyes down. The silence that followed was excruciating, and with every passing second, I grew more fearful that Fang was angry. But then I was being pulled into strong arms, and black fabric was all that was in my line of vision, and I buried my face in it.

"Are you mad?" I murmured.

"Of course not," he answered, rubbing between my wings. "I just wish you hadn't kept that to yourself, having to worry alone for weeks." He paused. "How long _have_ you been worrying about this?"

I thought: this was the first week of September, and it was at the beginning of August that Fang had talked me into leaving for a weekend in Los Angeles, just to get away. "About a month. Since L.A."

"Oh," he replied, understanding. He pushed me back a little and kissed me, then rested his hand on my presently flat stomach. And, to my complete relief, a slow smile stretched across his face. "I'm gonna be a dad."

"You are a dad," I reminded him gently.

Fang shook his head. "Not like this."

I rested my hand over his, and a comfortable silence fell over us as we both gazed at my belly. Up until now, I wasn't sure exactly how I felt about having a baby; I was more concerned with what Fang would think. In this moment with him, though, I started to feel… happy. Excited. _Thrilled_, even.

"What will the kids think?" I asked after a while.

Fang acted like he didn't hear me, like he was in a trance, but then his eyes rose from my stomach and his hand slid out from under mine. "I don't know," he said, rubbing his forehead. We meandered into the living room, where he sunk onto the couch and I sat on his lap. "Devin probably won't care much, but Gracie…"

"That's what I'm thinking." I sighed and placed my head on his shoulder as his arms wound around my waist. We sat there a while, rocking slightly. "Fang?"

"Yeah."

"Do you think this is safe?" I touched my stomach. "You know, being pregnant when I have the… bird issue."

Fang shrugged, jostling my head. "When we first got married, we asked your mom about it, remember? And she ran all those tests and said it wouldn't affect any pregnancies."

"Yeah," I said, closing my eyes for a second. I couldn't remember ever being as tired as I had been this past month. "I'm sure she's right."

Fang opened his mouth to reply, but then we heard the screen door bang shut and footsteps marching through the foyer.

"Come on, Grace," Devin was saying. I climbed off Fang's lap and went to stand in the doorway of the living room, and he followed me. "That guy's an ass, anyway."

I looked at Devin, standing in the doorway with his bag slung over his shoulder and his knit cap covering his shaggy blonde hair, pulled down over his ears, and then at Gracie, already halfway up the stairs, tear tracks on her face.

"He is not," she sniffled, wiping her eyes. "I can't believe you. I hate you, Devin." And with that, she turned and hurried up to the landing. A second later, her bedroom door slammed loudly.

I stepped out of the living room and looked at Devin, crossing my arms. More often than not, it was easiest to assume that whatever problem had come up traced back to him. "What did you do?"

"_I_ did nothing," he said, dropping his backpack and taking off his cap to shake out his hair, which I _really_ wished he would cut. "That stupid jerk she's been dating, Markus, cheated on her."

Beside me, Fang tensed, ever the protector of his little girl. But I just raised my eyebrows at Devin. "Please tell me you didn't beat him up."

The sheepish look he gave me, exactly like the one he would flash as a six-year-old punching the student teacher, pretty much gave me my answer. My hand instinctively fell onto my stomach as I wondered how the heck I'd be able to do this again.

"I told her he was bad news," Devin said, shaking his head as he headed to the kitchen for a snack. Fang and I followed. "I told her the day he asked her out, the last day of school before Christmas last year. But did she listen? No. And it turns out I was right the whole time."

I rolled my eyes as he pulled some cheese and crackers from the cabinet. "Can I have the whole story here?"

"I saw him making out with another girl before school started," Devin said casually, as if he were sharing that week's weather report. "At lunch, I caught him behind the building and said that if he got near Gracie again, I'd personally beat him to a pulp. Guess it scared him enough to go break up with her."

Here's the thing about Devin: he _loved_ his family. When Fang was stressed at work and I was stressed trying to run the household alone, Devin always volunteered to do the dishes or the laundry to help me out. Since kindergarten, he'd been protecting Gracie from anyone who so much as looked at her funny. I was so proud of him; I'd never been afraid to send Gracie anywhere, because I knew he'd do anything to make sure she was safe. But sometimes-- okay, quite often-- he didn't use very good judgment and went about trying to fix things the wrong way.

"Markus was _Gracie's_ boyfriend, Dev," I told him. "You should have told her what you saw and let her deal with it. You guys are fourteen now. She can fight some of her own battles."

Devin popped a cracker in his mouth and shrugged his shoulders. "She never wanted to before. I don't know what her problem is now."

"She's becoming independent, Devin," I sighed, glancing toward the stairs. Then I turned to Fang, whose expression told me he wanted to go kick some Markus butt. "I'm going to talk to her."

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"Hey," I called, opening the door just enough for me to poke my head through. Gracie was sitting on her bed with her knees pulled up to her chest, rocking back and forth. She didn't even look up when I spoke. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," she said softly, so I did. I crossed the room and sat beside her, reaching over to smooth her hair. What I'd learned from dealing with Gracie and her various dramatics was not to pressure her-- when she was ready to talk, she would.

Sure enough, after about five minutes of sitting there together, she said, "I guess I'm not _really_ mad at Devin. I'm mad at Markus, but I didn't want to believe he cheated on me."

"I understand," I said.

"You're so lucky, Momma," she said, leaning against my side. "You and Daddy had each other from the beginning. You didn't have to look for someone who loved you."

"It wasn't smooth sailing for us, either, though," I told her. I'd never seen her look so deflated, and it was worrying me. "Nobody has a perfect relationship."

"I _loved_ him," Gracie went on as if I hadn't spoken. "But I guess he didn't love me enough to stay faithful."

"Guess not." I pulled her into my arms and kissed her forehead. "It's his loss, though, sweetheart. Not yours."

She let out a loud, long sigh. "You know, Markus being gone is so different for me… we were together almost a year… maybe now's, like, the time for me to make other changes. Start over."

I grinned, thinking about perfect timing, and silently thanked God for making this all work in tandem. "Actually, I have some news that will help you with that."

"Really? What?"

Shaking my head, I disentangled myself from her and stood up. "I'll tell you at dinner, okay?"

"Okay." Gracie grinned that toothy grin that looked so much prettier on her face than those tears. "It's good news, right?"

I reached down and ruffled her hair. "I think you'll like it."

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At six o'clock, I served the microwavable macaroni and cheese-- yes, most of our meals are from a box, in case you're wondering-- and sat down across from Fang, the kids occupying each of the other two sides of the table.

"What's your news, Mom?" Gracie asked excitedly, bouncing in her seat.

Devin looked up from his bowl and narrowed his eyes. "News?"

"Yep," I said, looking at Fang. He gave me a small nod, telling me to go ahead. "Guys, I'm gonna have a baby."

Gracie's jaw dropped, and she stared at me, speechless. Silence settled over the table as we waited for one of the kids to say something.

Devin did it. And it was the last thing I expected. He looked right at Gracie and said coolly, "Told you she'd come back from L.A. knocked up."

I gaped at him while Gracie shrieked, covering her mouth with her hands and shrieking, "Eww, mental picture! Mental picture!" Fang simply reached over and lightly smacked Devin upside the head.

"Ex_cuse_ me?" I sputtered. "What-- _what_ did you say?"

Devin shrugged, picking up his spoon and scooping out some macaroni. "When you guys were gone, I was telling Gracie we could assume what was going on up there."

I could already feel my pregnancy hormones kicking in and making me irritable. "Nothing was _going on _up there."

"Well, apparently _something_ was."

"Okay, stop," Fang cut in as I was about to start screaming. "Max, chill. Devin, stop talking."

"When are you going to the doctor?" Gracie asked, having regained her voice, and it was one of excitement. "Will you find out when you're due?"

"I have no idea," I told her, which pretty summed up my whole stance on this situation: no idea. All I knew was that there was a little baby-- mine and Fang's _baby_-- growing inside of me. "We'll invite Iggy, Angel, Grandma and Ella over for dinner this week and tell them the news and bombard Grandma with questions."

Gracie laughed, and Devin cracked a smile, so much like his dad with that strong and silent thing going on. "That's so great, Momma," she said, getting up to hug me around the neck.

"I'm glad you're glad, sweetie," I told her as she kissed me on the cheek.

"You were right," she said, pulling back. "That _is_ good news."

Fang caught my eye from across the table, and one corner of his mouth quirked, telling me he agreed: Good news.

**More drama! I told you guys.**

**Can we have the same review response as last chapter? That was AWESOME. : )**


	3. Chapter 3

**Guys, have you noticed some spam-type stuff on fan fiction lately, or is that just me? It pops up when I'm trying to read a story and drives me nuts! I hope it's not just my computer.**

"Okay, look," I said, crossing my arms and looking around the store I'd been dragged in to. "We have until May to do this. Can't we wait? We don't even know if it's a boy or a girl yet."

"This is a really good sale, Max," my mom said, heading right to a shelf of onesies. "Getting this stuff this cheap doesn't happen often."

I growled under my breath but followed her and Ella to the baby stuff. My second month of pregnancy wasn't even over yet and I was already being forced to shop. I didn't understand what the big deal was about picking out the baby's clothes and stuff; Nudge had positively _wailed_ when I told her over the phone that Mom was taking me to shop and she, at the University of Texas, wouldn't be able to come help, and Angel had wanted to come but had some big tests at school that day. I would happily just shove some money in their hands and have them pick stuff out, but _no_, I had to come.

"Besides," my mom went on, "you don't even need to know the gender to pick out a car seat and a crib."

I crossed my arms and looked over the cribs and car seats on display, all way marked down. The cheapest gender-neutral car seat was on sale for forty dollars when it usually would have been eighty-four. "Let's get that one."

"That's so _boring_!" Ella groaned, throwing her head back. "It's _brown_!"

"As I said before," I scowled, turning on her, "we don't have much information to base our choices on!"

Ella seemed unaffected by my hormone-induced crabbiness as she crouched down to be eye-level with my stomach. "Hey, baby," she cooed, "what color car seat do you want?"

"Ella," I hissed, very aware of the couple browsing through tiny dresses staring at us and also of my mother, stifling a laugh, "stop it."

She made a face and stood up. "Moody, moody."

"Yes, I am." I reached for the car seat's box, tugging it off the shelf. "I am getting this, and--"

"Wait!" Ella pulled down a forty-five dollar pink seat. "This one's adorable. Why don't you get it and a boy one while they're cheap, and when you know if it's a boy or a girl, you can return one?"

I opened my mouth to protest, but my mom spoke up. "Max, she's right. That's a good idea. It'll save you a lot of money."

"Fine," I grumbled, putting back the brown car seat and grabbing the pink one and a dark blue one. As I was about to lift them into the cart, though, I froze, staring at the items in my hands: a car seat for a baby girl, and one for a baby boy.

A lump formed in my throat and tears welled in my eyes as I thought of my teenage twins, who I'd been raising for the past eleven years-- but who I hadn't known existed for three. I should have given birth to them, held them as newborns, fed them their bottles and seen their first steps. But instead, I didn't know them until the whitecoats had tortured them and seen all the firsts that I so longed to see.

I lowered my head as I started to cry, and the arms of my mother and sister immediately came around me, holding me close.

"It's okay, Max," Mom said. "It's normal to feel like crying at this stage in your pregnancy."

The pregnancy may have contributed to my tears, but the truth was that this had been bugging me for years, ever since the first time I saw Gracie and Devin. All this time, I'd kept it inside, but thanks to my wild hormones, it was now coming to the surface.

Mom and Ella kept hugging me, stroking my hair, and I was so grateful that they were there, but the only person, the only embrace that could help me right now, was Fang's.

"Oh, sweetheart," Mom sighed, wiping my cheek with her thumb, "I know it's hard. It's okay."

"Fang."

As soon as the word left my mouth, my mom was pulling away from me and taking out her cell phone, calling Fang's. I leaned against Ella, covering my hand with my mouth, and listened to my mom. "Fang? Hi, it's Val. Well, she's fine, but she wanted to talk to you. Yes. Alright, here she is."

I took the phone from her hand. Before I put it to my ear, Mom said, "Ella and I will go look at cribs, okay? You just come over when you're ready."

I nodded and wiped my face, tears replacing the ones I swiped away. After they had moved a few feet away, I said, "Hello?"

"Max, what's wrong?" Fang asked worriedly. His voice immediately calmed me. "I know you wouldn't have had your mom call for you unless something was up."

I sniffed. "She called for me because I was crying, that's all."

"Why are you crying?" Now he sounded panicked; crying was still a rare occurrence for me. I guess it hadn't occurred to him that pregnancy hormones would make it happen more often. "Max. Talk to me."

"Do you ever think about what it would have been like to raise the twins from birth?" I asked croakily.

"That's what this is about?" Fang asked-- not irritably, just understanding. Even if we hadn't talked about it in a while, he knew this still bugged me. "Aw, Max. It's okay."

"I know," I sighed, intentionally turning away from the baby stuff so I wouldn't burst into tears again. "Sometimes I just can't help but think about what we missed…"

"I know," he said, and then shocked me by adding, "I think about it, too."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Then a smirk came into his voice, and naturally, I had to smile, too. "But I haven't spontaneously burst into tears about it, either. Probably the lack of pregnancy hormones."

I laughed, feeling the last of my tears drying on my face. "Probably. You have the job that's worse than having them, though, and that's being on the receiving end."

Fang chuckled, the sound low enough to make the phone vibrate. "Well, I definitely wouldn't want to piss you off, pregnant or not. You can get kind of scary."

I smiled and rested a hand on my stomach. _You, kid, have got one amazing daddy._ "Thanks, Fang."

Even though I didn't expand on what it was, exactly, that I was thankful for, he seemed to get it-- thanks for getting me through this incident, and every other incident that I'd been though in our twenty-five years. "'Course, babe," he said softly. "You okay?"

"Now I am."

**Alright, so… filler-ish. Guess what next chapter's about, though? Gracie! : )**

**Tomorrow's Friday, folks-- happy weekend!**


	4. Chapter 4

Gracie stepped out of the girls' locker room in her t-shirt and athletic shorts, looked to make sure the gym was empty, and then darted across the basketball court to the door of the boys' locker room.

She flattened herself against the wall around the corner from the door so that if the wrong boy came out, he wouldn't see her. More than likely, though, the right one would come out first-- he didn't waste any time, whether it be getting dressed for gym or anything else.

Sure enough, the door opened thirty seconds later, and she poked her head around the corner to see a tall sixteen-year-old Asian boy sauntering across the gym.

"Markus!" she hissed, running over to him. He turned, and just seeing his face made her heart break in half again. Markus had been her first kiss, her first love. When she'd found out more than a month earlier that she was being cheated on, she'd felt the worst of her life, and had been determined to go on without him. Now, though, with her parents preoccupied with the baby on the way and Devin being, well, emo-Devin, it seemed like nobody ever had time for Gracie anymore. She needed _someone_.

Markus looked down at her slowly, cautiously, as if he couldn't decide whether he should talk to her or not. "What is it?"

Gracie lowered her voice even further, though they were still alone in the large gym. "Look, I miss you. I forgive you for cheating. I want to give this another try."

Unmistakable fear came into his eyes, and he started shaking his head. "Gracie, I don't--"

"I know my brother scared you off," she interrupted. "But he's really not that bad. We had, um, kind of a scary childhood--" She cringed, knowing that wasn't the best way to word that-- "so he's protective. That's all."

Still, Markus hesitated, so Gracie took his hand loosely in hers. "We don't have to tell him, if you don't want."

It took a moment, but then a small smile stretched across Markus's face, and he stepped closer to Gracie. "I think that can be arranged."

With that, he picked her up so their faces were level and pressed his lips to hers. And Gracie smiled into the kiss, looping her arms around her boyfriend's neck, because finally, she was somebody's world.

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After the coaches and the other students came into the gym, Gracie quickly detached herself from Markus and hurried to the girls' side while he stayed on the boys'. Twenty minutes later, the girls were doing an endurance test in which they ran from one side of the gym to the other, each time quicker than the last. Gym class came easily to Gracie, because the genetically enhanced part of her DNA gave her natural athletic ability. Her only struggle was when she itched to spread her raven-colored wings and launch off the ground and _fly_, but obviously, she couldn't do that at school.

"Come on, Gracie!" yelled the coach, holding her stopwatch. "Push, push, push!"

Gracie pumped her arms hard, focusing on getting to the thick blue line painted on the gym floor within the allotted time. Every time her foot connected with the floor, she felt it, but still, she tried to go faster.

And then, she stopped feeling the pounding beneath her feet, stopped feeling the floor at all. It was like she was floating toward her finish line, and moving faster than she had ever imagined. It was amazing.

It was also scary.

The speed just kept coming, growing even after she had crossed the line. Seeing the wall rushing toward her and recognizing that she was going too fast to stop, Gracie held her hands out in front of her.

A split second later, pain shot up her arm as her hand hit the wall at an odd angle, and she cried out in pain, only vaguely hearing the screams of the other girls before she fell to the floor.

**Okay, you know the drill-- press that green button!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I have a headache, if anybody's interested.**

I stayed leaning over the sink, just in case there was more to come up. Even though I was in month three, the vomiting hadn't ceased. After a couple minutes, though, I hadn't puked anymore, so I stood up and grabbed a washcloth to wipe my mouth off with.

I turned to the side and peered into the mirror, looking at my belly. With my baggy t-shirt, there didn't appear to be a difference, but when I lifted it up a little, there was an unmistakable bulge there.

It made me smile.

Before I could think much more about it, or possibly have a hormone-induced emotional breakdown, the phone rang from my bedroom. Dropping my shirt, I hurried to answer it.

"Hello?"

"This is Mrs. Brown, the nurse at Tucson North High School," came a voice. "Is this Mrs. Ride?"

"Yes," I said, frozen in place as I tried to imagine what could have happened to Gracie or Devin. And I suddenly had to use the bathroom. _Again_. "Is something wrong?"

"Well, Gracie ran into the wall in gym class, and it appears that her hand and wrist is broken. I can't x-ray it here; she needs to go to the hospital."

I raised my eyebrow. She _ran_ into the _wall_? There was no way that was the whole story. "She's okay, right?"

"Apart from her hand, yes. She's fine."

"Tell her I'll be there soon."

"Thank you, Mrs. Ride. Good-bye."

I hung up and grabbed the keys to my car, prepared to get to the bottom of what exactly had happened in gym.

Right after I went pee.

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"Alright," I said when Gracie got in the passenger seat. "Tell me what happened."

"Well," she said, staring down at the temporary sling the nurse must have given her, "I _did _crash into the wall… but it was so weird. I was running as fast as I could, and then it was like… like I was floating. I was going _so_ fast, Mom, and I couldn't stop… and I just… crashed."

Something clicked in my head, and my jaw dropped slightly.

"Mom?" Gracie asked cautiously. When I didn't say anything, she raised her voice. "Momma!"

"Grace," I began, looking over at her worried face. "I think you got a power."

Fang and I had wondered for a long time now whether she and Devin would get any special skills, like the flock, so I don't know why it shocked me that she'd gotten one.

Gracie's face lit up. "Really? You think I have super speed, like you?"

I nodded, reaching into my jeans pocket for my cell phone. "Bet you do. I bet you'll be able to go even faster when you fly. I'm gonna call your dad and tell him."

She propped her feet up on the dash as I dialed Fang's number. He picked up after two rings, saying, "Yo."

"Hey," I said. "Can you talk?"

"For now. What's up?"

I told him about Gracie's incident, and then my theory. When I was done, he whistled and said, "Damn. Both the women in this family are faster than the manly men. Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?"

"Shut up, you sexist pig," I snapped, and Gracie giggled.

"This is probably a good time to tell you that Devin got a skill, too," Fang said, and then paused, waiting for my reaction.

That reaction was that I almost drove the car off the road and Gracie grabbed the door, yelling, "_Mom!_"

"Sorry," I said, straightening out the car and restraining from flipping off the guy honking at me, since my child was watching. "What do you mean Devin got a skill? And when were you planning on telling me this?"

"I wanted to tell you yesterday," Fang said apologetically, "but Devin was afraid it'd put stress on you and hurt the baby. I told him you'd kill us if we kept it from you, but he wouldn't hear any of it, so I was just gonna tell you the next time he wasn't around."

"Aww," Gracie cooed. "Devin's gonna be such a good big brother!"

I smiled at her, agreeing. "So what's his skill, Fang?"

"Same as mine. Invisibility."

"Devin turned invisible?!" Gracie said loudly, and I winced, sort of wishing she'd wallow in pain over her hand and be quiet. "Why didn't anybody tell _me_? _I_ don't have a baby to hurt!"

"I would hope not," Fang said. "If you do you're dead."

"Is it like your invisibility?" I asked him. "Like, where if he moves it's gone?"

"Seemed like it."

I bit my lip and looked sideways at Gracie. Sure enough, she was still hanging onto every word we said. "It's weird that they got new skills within a day of each other. It's like… like the dreams."

"Exactly what I was thinking."

"Except that this is a developmental thing…" I continued, thinking aloud. "So maybe they just got the powers at the same time because they're the exact same age."

"Could be," Fang said. There was some rustling around and muffled voices, and then he said, "I gotta go to a meeting. Call me after Gracie gets her hand fixed up."

After we had said good-bye and I was hanging up, I heard Gracie gasp. I turned quickly, thinking her hand hurt, but saw her grinning.

"What is it?" I asked, confused.

"You're showing!" she exclaimed, pointing at my stomach with her good hand.

"Oh," I said, my cheeks heating as I suddenly felt both flustered and embarrassed. "Yep. I am."

"I'm so happy for you and Daddy," Gracie said… wistfully?

I shook my head. Even if I couldn't place the tone of her voice or the look on her face, it wouldn't be wistful. What would make her act like that?

_You're losing it, _I told myself. _Stop thinking and drive._

**Review to help my headache? : )**


	6. Chapter 6

**Guys, READ THIS NOTE:**

**A lot of you took Gracie's wistful look last chapter to mean she wanted to have a baby herself. That is NOT what it meant! I did a really bad job of getting across what I wanted to get across; the wistful look was supposed to show her sadness at being ignored in favor of the baby. That's all! Sorry about that, that was my fault!**

**Also, I'm about to go post the Shakespearean sonnet I had to write for English class today. It doesn't mention names, but it was based on Max and Fang's relationship. It's really bad; I'm posting it 'cause it's funny. So go read that if you so wish!**

"To the left," I called. "No, not that far over. Back to the right a little. There. Now back it up against the wall. Yeah, that's good."

Fang stood up straight and looked down at the dresser he'd spent the last twenty minutes moving around while I lounged comfortably in the rocking chair my mom had given us for the baby's nursery. "You sure?"

"Yeah," I said, taking a swig of milk, which I'd been advised to start drinking instead of soda. "You can take a break."

"Good," he said, wiping his sweaty brow. "That's hard."

"Seriously?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at him. "You, who has defeated some of the scariest creatures known to man, escaped death time and time again, and survived torturous experiments are saying that putting together a baby's room is _hard_?"

"Yeah." Fang shrugged and made his way over to me. He knelt in front of the rocking chair, and my heart sped up at the smile on his face. "How's my little girl?"

"Fang," I sighed as he lifted up my shirt enough to gently kiss my protruding belly. "Don't get attached to the idea of it being a girl."

"It's a girl," he said firmly, as if we already knew, even though that was impossible at this point. It was only week thirteen, and I wasn't having my month three check-up until Monday, two days from now.

"Whatever you say." I rolled my eyes and had some more milk.

"Are you sure you're okay to go to the doctor alone?" Fang asked. My belly was still bare. "I tried everything, but I couldn't get off work."

"It's fine," I told him, sitting up and pulling my shirt back over my bump.

"You know I'd give anything to be there with you," he said, his dark eyes searching my face. "I want to see your first ultrasound."

"I want you to, too," I sighed. "But if you can't get off work, you can't get off work. I understand."

"Well, I'll come next time. No matter what." I was about to stand up, but he reached out and placed a hand back on my stomach, so I didn't go anywhere. "Daddy's gonna hear your heartbeat next month, okay, princess?"

"If it's a boy, I'm going to laugh maniacally," I told him.

Fang just smiled. "It's a girl."

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It was not a girl.

Gracie and Devin were already home from school when I came back from the doctor, but I barely said two words to them before going into my room and laying down. I had no idea what I thought about what I'd found out, and I couldn't even begin to think about what _Fang_ would think.

And no, it wasn't a boy. It was still too early to know the genders.

Yes, that would be 'genders', with an _s_. As in, plural.

I was having _twins_.

When the doctor told me she was hearing two heartbeats and what that meant, my first thought was that I was getting a second chance to raise a set of twins, all the way from when they originated in my stomach. But then my mind started to wander, and I grew more worried. Could my genetically altered body handle having twins? How would Fang and the kids react? Could we _afford_ two more kids instead of one, what with Fang's job the only source of money we had?

My doctor-- one who had been recommended to me by my mom, therefore she knew about my situation-- had assured me that the first of these questions was not an issue. The second two, though, had plagued me all the way back home.

The door opened, the hall light filling the dark room. I was on my side, facing away from the door, but I knew it was Fang. A moment later, the light disappeared and the mattress behind me creaked.

"Hey," Fang whispered in my ear before pressing his lips to my neck. I shut my eyes, trying to pretend to be asleep. He didn't fall for it. "Max."

"Hmm?"

He draped his arm over my waist, resting his hand on my stomach-- my stomach which suddenly seemed bigger, now that I knew there were two babies in there. "Tell me what's up."

"Why are you home so early?" I asked, snuggling my back up closer to his front.

"I wanted to see the ultrasound pictures."

They were on the bedside table; he'd overlooked them. I thought about telling him that I'd accidentally left them in the car, then reminded myself that Fang was the father of these babies and deserved to know everything that was happening, even if I was afraid of what he would say. Still, I hesitated, until I remembered how I'd been so convinced he'd be angry that I was pregnant in the first place, and then all he was upset about was learning that I'd been throwing up for a month.

"Right there." I turned from my side to my back and pointed at the table. He took a long look at my face, then turned on the lamp and reached for the pictures.

I don't know if he was too shocked to speak or if his brain was running slow or _what_, but it was two long minutes before he said, "Holy crap."

"Yeah."

Fang slowly lowered the pictures so he could see my face. I almost passed out when I realized he was _smiling_. "This is awesome."

"It is?"

The smile faded. "Isn't it?"

I grabbed a pillow and held it over my face, groaning into it. "I don't know. I just don't know. I guess it's fine."

"Max." He pried the pillow out of my hands and tossed it off the bed. "What is your problem?"

"I don't know, I'm happy but at the same time it's gonna hurt so much and we're not gonna have any money and-- and I don't know!" By the end of my rambling, I had burst into tears, covering my face with one hand.

Fang sat up and gently maneuvered me so my head was in his lap. I turned my face into his knee while my sobbing turned more violent, and he rubbed my back while whispering little comforts. "It won't hurt that much. I'll make sure they give you lots of painkillers, okay? And I'll be beside you the whole time. So will the flock and the kids and your mom. We'll be there for you."

"I'm scared," I mumbled, the two words escaping my lips for one of the very few times in my life.

"There's nothing to be afraid of." He buried his face in my hair, and I could hear him breathe in the smell. "As long as I'm here, there's nothing to be afraid of."

My fingers curled around the bottom of his thigh, holding on because I _needed_ him _right there_. Kisses were sprinkled across the top of my head as Fang slipped his hand under my shirt to rub the small of my back.

When I raised my head a few minutes later, I saw an intense expression on Fang's face. Before I could open my mouth, he was smoothing my hair away from my forehead and murmuring, "You're strong, Max. You'll get through this."

I laughed bitterly. "I'm not strong. I'm sitting here crying like a baby."

"You deserve to cry like a baby," he said, rubbing away some of my tears with his thumb.

I took a deep, shuddering breath and took his hand, lacing our fingers together. "Maybe I do."

"You do." Fang lowered his face to mine and kissed me gently. "Trust me."

The last of my tears dried away as I sighed blissfully and leaned up for another. "Always."

**Faxness! Yay!**

**Review?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Oh my gosh, guys, guess what! I had a Gracie incident today! I was running and I ran into the locker room door, like, hard. And as soon as my coach made sure I was okay and I was standing up (on shaky legs), I'm like, Whoa, this is what happened to Gracie! Just thought I'd mention that…**

Devin moved through the empty hallways of the high school, keeping an eye out for a flash of black curls. Just as he'd been about to enter the history classroom, he'd heard a high-pitched giggle he'd recognize anywhere-- his sister's. It wouldn't have bothered him, but he knew for a fact that her fifth hour class was on the other side of the school. And Gracie wouldn't be late for class.

So now he was skipping history to find her, because there was a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Since that one giggle, he hadn't heard her again, but he knew she was somewhere close. They'd always had some sort of twin intuition thing going on.

Devin tugged on his cap, pulling it down enough to cover his earlobe, and readjusted his books in his arms. Skipping class was nothing new to him, but Gracie freaked out if she was five seconds late. She'd always been a strong student, a Daddy's little girl, and beautiful enough to be the apple of every boy's eye. And Devin, well, had a report card full of Cs and tended to fade into the background, although many a teenage girl had flirted with him.

Another loud giggle broke the silence around him, echoing in the hallway, and Devin stopped in his tracks. He turned to the left and saw the closed door of the janitor's closet, and then another muffled giggle found its way to his ears.

It clicked right away. Devin threw his books down, slamming them on the tiled floor, and marched over to the closet. He grasped the door's handle and threw it open.

Inside was that asshole Markus, sitting on an upside down bucket with Gracie perpendicular in his lap. Their arms, Gracie's left one free of a cast for only a few days, were tight around each other while they totally sucked each other's faces off.

As soon as she saw Devin, Gracie was disentangling herself from Markus and leaping up, holding a hand over her heart and using her other to smooth her mussed hair. But he'd seen enough.

"I thought I told you to stay the hell away from her," Devin barked, stepping up to Markus. Both boys were tall for their age, so they were eye to eye.

"Devin, stop," Gracie begged.

"Why don't you stay out of it?" Markus asked, and reached out, shoving Devin. He shoved back, and just like that, it was on.

The boys wrestled on their feet for a minute, ignoring Gracie's protests, but then Devin got a hold of Markus' wrist and twisted his arm behind his back. At that point, Gracie lunged forward and, with much trouble, pulled her brother off of her boyfriend.

"Markus, go to class!" she commanded while struggling to keep a hold of Devin. Markus hurried out of the closet, shouting a quick "I love you" over his shoulder. Once his running footsteps faded from earshot, she released her brother. "Devin, I cannot believe you."

"Grace, you have to listen to--"

"No, _you_ listen to _me_. Markus made a mistake, but I'm giving him a second chance! And if you even _think_ about telling Mom and Dad, I'll break every bone in your body."

"I'm not telling Mom, but only because she doesn't need the stress. But you better believe I'm telling Dad."

"Devin, please." Gracie was pleading now, tears shining in her eyes as she clasped her hands together. "Please don't say anything. Daddy will try to keep us apart. He won't understand. I love Markus. And he loves me."

Devin took a step forward, but she took a step back. "If he loved you, he wouldn't have cheated on you."

"He realized his mistake. He _loves_ me. Stop trying to be the big, scary older brother and leave me alone!"

Before he could say another word, Gracie pushed past him, hard, and hurried down the hallway. Devin stayed in the janitor's office for a moment, staring at the supply shelves, before sighing and pulling off his knit cap so he could run his fingers through his shaggy blonde hair.

Now to decide whether to tell Dad.

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After school, Devin checked up on Mom, who was in the bathroom throwing up, and then parked himself by the front door. As soon as Dad walked in, he was telling him about Gracie and Markus. Because even if Gracie wouldn't listen to him, she wouldn't dare go against Daddy's orders.

Around four, when he'd been sitting in the foyer for about an hour, Gracie came in and sat beside him, a cocky look on her face.

"What are you doing?" Devin asked.

"I'm not stupid, you know," she said. "I know what you're doing."

And so they sat together for another hour, Devin doing homework and Gracie's fingers flying across the keys of her cell phone as she texted her friends and probably Markus.

At five o'clock sharp, the usual time for their dad's arrival, they heard a key turning in the lock and exchanged a glare. When Dad opened the door and stepped inside, the strap of his laptop case over his shoulder, both the twins were looking up at him.

"Um… hey," he said, looking at them funny. "What are you guys doing?"

"I'm keeping my dear brother company while he does his algebra homework," Gracie said sweetly, patting Devin's arm and resting her head on his shoulder.

Dad raised his eyebrows, easing the door shut behind him. "Right…"

When he turned away from a moment, Devin nudged Gracie off his shoulder, and she scowled at him before plucking the knit cap right off his head.

"Give me that," he growled.

"Why should I?" she taunted, scrambling up and holding it above her head. Devin stood, too, and tried to grab it, but she kept jumping out of his reach. "I think this would be great blackmail, _if_ you know what I mean. Don't you think, Devin?"

Their dad watched them for a minute, and then shook his head as he headed into the kitchen. "I don't think I want to know."

**Haha. This is totally the kind of dad I picture Fang being.**

**Review?**


	8. Chapter 8

**1-ceth pointed out that I used part of last chapter as the teaser included in Always You and Me, so since a lot of you had read that part already, I'm going to update for the second day in a row! Thanks for all the reviews, guys!**

"Oh, Max, look at you!" squealed Nudge as she bounded through my front door, dragging her suitcase behind her. "How far along are you?"

I smiled and hugged her. "Good to see you, too, Nudge. I'm at seventeen weeks."

"Did you hear the other news, Nudge?" Gracie asked excitedly from beside me, bouncing on her toes. I turned and narrowed my eyes at her: we were saving that for later that afternoon, during Thanksgiving dinner. My daughter grimaced in apology when she saw my face, but it was too late.

"There's _more_ news?" Even though she was twenty-two, Nudge still had a tendency to, well, act like a teenage girl. "Ooh, tell me, tell me, tell me!"

I sighed. "We're having twins."

The shrieks of excitement that followed just about busted my eardrums.

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"Okay," I said later as my mom placed the turkey she'd made-- what, you thought _I_ would make Thanksgiving dinner, just because it was at my house?-- in the center of the table. We were all in one place, gathered around the table, for the first time in months, and it was the perfect time to spill. "For those of you who don't already know--" I raised my eyebrows at Gracie and Nudge, who suppressed grins, then at Angel, who, of course, had read my mind-- "we have some more news."

"What is it?" Ella asked, leaning forward eagerly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my mom smile-- she knew, because I'd had many questions for her after I'd found out.

"Are you guys moving to a mobile home?" Iggy asked, and Gazzy snorted.

"What? No," I said, confused and not getting why either of them found that funny. "No, we're having twins."

Ella squealed, and the others all burst into conversation, congratulating us. The ones who already knew broke into grins, even Devin and Fang. Iggy came up and hugged me, whispering, "Sorry about the mobile home joke. I'm happy for you," in my ear.

"Thanks," I said. As he straightened up, I tasted blood in my mouth-- my gums were bleeding a little. Again. Joyous.

"Well, let's eat!" Mom said, raising her silverware to cut the turkey.

"I'm going to get the mail!" Gracie exclaimed suddenly, leaping out of her chair and racing toward the front door, her newfound super speed making this go extremely fast.

"There's no mail today," I called, but the door slammed shut a moment later. I furrowed my brow at Fang, wondering why she suddenly needed the mail-- whenever I asked her to get it for me, she made a face-- and he shrugged. Then I looked to Devin and saw a calculating look on his face as he glared at the front door.

"I'll get the paper," he said, then loped out of the room, pulling that stupid cap down lower over his ears.

When the door shut behind him, too, I looked at the confused faces of my flock and family. "What's their problem?"

"Who knows." Fang picked up his fork and dug into the chunk of turkey Mom had put on his plate alongside mashed potatoes, stuffing, and a few biscuits. The rest of us followed his lead, starting to eat and easing into a conversation about our new twins and how the nursery was coming along and possible names, and I forgot how weird my older set of twins were acting.

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Devin could hear the whispers over in the neighbor's bushes, but this time, he didn't intrude. Instead, he sat down on the front stoop and only had to wait five minutes before Gracie started back across the yard, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

When she saw Devin, though, the smile abruptly faded, and she subconsciously held one hand to her chest, then slapped the other over it.

Not before he caught the light glinting off her finger, though.

"Let me see it," he said nonchalantly, but Gracie saw right through his façade and took a step back. At that, Devin stood and grabbed her hands, prying them apart so he could look at her left ring finger.

It was a long, long time that they stood under the Arizona sun, him holding her fingers where he could see the ring, her biting her lip and waiting for his reaction. Finally, he dropped her hand and said exasperatedly, "Why are you doing this, Grace?"

"Because I love him!" she said. "And he loves me!"

"He _doesn't_ love you!" Devin growled, grabbing her shoulders. "How can you think he does, after what he did?"

Gracie shook her head, looking away.

"Gracie, I'm trying to protect you."

"I don't need your protecting!" she snapped, meeting his eyes again. "Okay? I have huge wings too, you know. And my skill's more useful than yours. If one of us can take care of ourselves, it's me."

"This isn't about wings or skills or any of that stuff. This is about you not recognizing when you're totally dependent on a guy, so dependent that you'll promise to marry him after he's proved he can't be trusted. You'll give him _your_ heart forever, but he's been giving his to two girls at one time. Every day you spend with that guy is another day of demise for you."

Gracie blinked back tears and said in a broke voice, "Are you done ragging on me?"

Devin opened his mouth, then stopped and replayed his last few sentences back through his mind. Now that he thought about it, that wasn't the best way to word it-- it sounded really awful. "Look, I didn't--"

"Save it," she grumbled, and stepped around him, clomping up the steps and into the house.

The last thing he saw before she disappeared behind the screen door was that ring, mocking him because he couldn't save his sister from this boy who only told her lies.

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Gracie and Devin came back about ten minutes later. Gracie looked on the verge of tears, and Devin looked irritated. I looked at Fang across the table and saw that he'd noticed it, too.

After everyone was done eating, my mom started to go to the kitchen and get dessert, but I stood up instead. "Mom, I'll get that," I said. "Gracie, Devin, come help me."

Once we were in the kitchen, Fang following us on his own accord, I put my hands on my wider-than-usual hips and turned on them. "What's going on?"

"Nothing's going on, Momma," Gracie said, bustling past me to grab two of the pies, one in each hand.

"I don't believe that," I said, narrowing my eyes at Devin. He shrugged and did the same as his sister, and then they left, not looking back at me.

My jaw dropped, and I looked at Fang, who was smirking. "They seriously just _walked away _from me! Stop laughing. It's not funny."

He said nothing and reached for a pie. I opened my mouth to tell him off some more, then stopped when I felt something in my stomach… something sort of like butterflies. And lots of them.

It only took me half a second to figure it out.

"Fang!" I cried, half joyfully and half fearfully. "They're moving! They're kicking! Come here!"

Fang put down the pie and strode over quickly, skimming his fingers across my stomach and then putting his palm flat against it. The movement wasn't as announced as it had been at first, but then one of the babies delivered a kick that would challenge David Beckham's. I grinned and looked up at Fang. "Did you feel that?"

He nodded, a ghost of a smile on his own lips, and put his other hand on my belly. A second later, there were two kicks at almost exactly the same time, and then I was blinking back tears.

Fang took me in his arms, holding me tight and planting his face in my hair. Between us, our children squirmed, and every magnificent feeling I'd ever had faded away as this one took its place.

**Wow, drama, drama. I told you guys, didn't I?**

**Please leave me a review?**


	9. Chapter 9

"I bet something's wrong," I said, nervously smoothing my fingers over my stomach. "I have a really bad feeling."

"It's probably just gas," Fang said like the smart-aleck he was, and I reached over and smacked him. He was in a chair beside the table I was laying on in the ultrasound room while we waited for Dr. Gordon. We'd been waiting about twenty minutes, and every passing second-- plus the fact that being in this small, windowless room brought back painful childhood memories-- was making me more and more anxious.

"I wish she'd hurry up and get in here," I griped, shifting on the table. "Fang, why don't you go out there and--"

The door opened, and Dr. Gordon, smiling as always, came in. "Good afternoon, Max. Fang."

"Finally," I sighed, not really minding how rude I sounded. Fang gave the doctor an apologetic look as they shook hands, and she smiled in understanding.

The doctor asked me the usual questions, and I answered. To my immense relief, she told me that everything I was experiencing was perfectly normal. And then she started spreading the gel stuff across my stomach, and I grabbed Fang's hand, squeezing it hard.

We watched as the picture on the screen came together, the two newest members of our family materializing before our eyes. Dr. Gordon smiled the whole time, and I began to relax, thinking this meant everything looked fine.

"Would you like to know the genders?" she asked us, glowing with the look of someone who had a wonderful secret.

I glanced at Fang, who simply shrugged. "Whatever you want."

I opened my mouth to say I wanted to keep it a surprise, but stopped. After all, I wasn't exactly known for my patience. "I want to know."

Dr. Gordon smiled. "You sure?"

"Yes," I said, the curiosity now eating me alive.

"You're having a boy and a girl."

I released a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding and looked up at Fang. He was grinning, and he leaned down to kiss me. "How's that?" he murmured against my mouth.

I didn't reply at first, pondering the question. First of all, my soul was again soaring as I saw even more similarities between these twins and the ones whose early lives I'd missed.

And then I realized that Fang would get the little girl he wanted, after all.

And of all things, the next thing to occur to me was that I'd be keeping both of the car seats Ella had made me buy a few months ago.

"That's perfect," I whispered back, pulling him back in for another kiss.

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"Should we pick out names soon?" I asked later, after Fang had helped me into the passenger seat and we were driving home.

"Maybe," he said with a shrug. "But we still have a long time."

"Not as long as it seems," I reminded him. "We're just about to month five here… I'm _huge_…" I glanced down at my stomach, which obstructed my view from the tops of my thighs. "They'll be here before we know it."

Fang was quiet for a few minutes. Then, in a voice of wonder and disbelief, he said, "We're gonna have four kids."

"I know," I said, settling back in my seat and raising my eyes to look at the ceiling. "And at twenty-nine, we'll be paying college tuition. How many other people can say that?"

"Not many." He grinned, showing all his teeth. "But not many people can say they have much in common with us, anyway."

"True," I agreed, thinking about the fact that we and our kids had wings and weird powers. Yeah, pretty uncommon. "You should pick first names this time, Fang."

Fang raised his eyebrows, surprised. "Why?"

I sighed. "I don't know. I did it last time, pretty much without consulting you. It just seems like this should be your turn."

After another moment, his mouth quirked up on one side. "I sort of like Missouri. For the girl."

With eyes narrowed in total surprise, I turned to look at him. "_Missouri_? Like the state?"

"Yeah."

I was starting to regret this. Names weren't something I was going to get bent all out of shape about, but _Missouri_? Really? I was almost afraid to ask, but… "What about for the boy?"

"Blake," he said, this time with no hesitation.

_Blake Ride. _I tried in out in my head. _Missouri Ride. Max, Fang, Gracie, Devin, Blake and Missouri._

Hmm. Not half bad.

"Middle names?" I reminded him. Gracie and Devin had sort of been cheated out of original middle names, since Fang had had that duty and had chosen my name for Gracie and his alias from Virginia, Nick, for Devin.

"Let's let Gracie and Devin pick them out," he suggested, surprising me yet again. "I bet they'd like that."

I thought about it, then smiled. He was right. There were no middle names that I absolutely had my heart set on, so this was perfect. Just like everything else today. "Me too."

We pulled onto the highway, and suddenly we were hurtling down the road, going fast enough to hear the wind whooshing by the car. Fang reached over and threaded his fingers through mine, and I smiled to myself.

We were on our way.

**So mostly just information this chapter. Bit o' Fax.**

**FANG comes out in America tomorrow! It's weird to me because I bought FANG from someone in England like a month ago, so I've had it read forever, but most people are just now about to read it. Weird, man.**

**Okay… you know the drill!**


	10. Chapter 10

**FANG came out in America yesterday! It seems like old news to me because I read it a month ago, but most of you guys are just getting it! For those who've finished it already, what did you think? I thought it was weird… anyway! This is a big chapter!**

"Daddy, I'm going for a walk!"

"Okay, Grace. See you later."

As soon as he heard the door shut, Devin hopped off his bed and hurried down the hall to his sister's room. In the doorway, he paused, making sure she hadn't come back in to get something she'd forgotten, but the house remained silent except for the TV downstairs. So he went in.

If Devin's room was the messiest accumulation of crap on earth, then Gracie's was the most organized. There was plenty of crap-- posters of teenage heartthrobs, magazines stacked neatly in the corner, and a bulletin board full of pictures of her and Markus-- but it was all very orderly, not one item out of place.

Sometimes, he teased her about it, but today, this was exactly what he needed: to get in, get the diary, and get out.

It was under her pillow, which was the second place Devin looked. After he'd been caught looking for it a couple times, Gracie had declared that she'd be moving the diary every week, but she moved it to the same three places every time. For someone so smart, she sure didn't hide things well.

The last few entries detailed her math test, her between-class kissing sessions with Markus, and her fascination with that stupid promise ring. It took a gritting of his teeth, but Devin managed to keep reading, and then he found exactly what he was looking for: an entry from a few months ago.

_October 23_

_Devin, and probably Mom and Daddy, would kill me if they knew this, but today I went back to Markus. He was reluctant at first (Devin really scared him, I think), but I convinced him to take me back._

_Doesn't that make me sound so pathetic? I mean, he cheated on me. Any other time, there's no way I would have gone back, but I really need someone right now. Mom and Daddy are completely absorbed with the baby-- not that they shouldn't be. I would be, too. But I still feel lonely at home, so Markus is who I have to turn to right now._

Devin slammed the diary shut before he'd finished reading the entry and turned on his heel, striding out into the hall and down the stairs. He found his dad in the living room, eating chips and watching a football game.

"Where's Mom?" Devin asked, keeping his casual façade for now.

"Upstairs, resting," Dad said, holding out the bag of chips.

Devin took a few and sat down beside his father. With his mom nowhere near, it was safe-- she couldn't know about this. She was so easily stressed, and now there were two babies who could be hurt because of it. "This is Gracie's diary," he said, holding it out to Fang, using his thumb to hold the page with the entry they needed.

Dad looked at the pink book, then at Devin. "You shouldn't go through your sister's things."

He shook his head. She could take his knit cap if she was so angry at him for showing this to their dad; he didn't care. He was doing what was best for her. "I think you need to read this." With that, he opened the diary to October 23 and set it on his dad's lap.

Dad stiffened and hesitated, but then picked it up and started to read. A second later, his eyebrows shot up-- something that could be interpreted as complete shock.

"What do you think we should do?" Devin asked.

Shaking his head, Dad slowly shut the book and handed it back. "Maybe we should have your mom talk--"

"We can't tell Mom," he cut in.

His father sighed and nodded. "We really shouldn't… but it'd be so much easier to dump this on her."

The two exchanged identical half-smiles and low chuckles. Then Devin looked down at the diary. "I'm just afraid she's gonna get hurt again."

"I know. She's gonna hate us, but…" Dad glanced at the front door. "We have to do something."

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Gracie bounced up the stairs of the front porch, trying to wipe the wide grin off her face but failing. This was how she usually felt after being with Markus: breathless and happy. She looked down at the ring on her finger, and her facial muscles began to hurt from smiling so huge.

After another minute, she managed to look like she had just been walking around the neighborhood, not kissing Markus on the swing set. She stepped into the house and was greeted by her father and brother, standing in the foyer, in front of the huge photos, looking none too pleased.

"What's going on?" Gracie asked, immediately thinking there was a problem with the babies, then realized they weren't worried-- just mad. At her. "What are you guys doing?"

Daddy held something up, and her heart sunk: it was her diary. "Devin found something in here that concerns us."

"I can't believe you read that!" she hissed at Devin, relentless anger making her take a fast step forward. Daddy stepped between them, holding Gracie's arms firmly. "What don't you understand about _privacy_?"

"Not nearly as much as you," he said stoically, crossing his arms over his chest. "With all that sneaking around behind our backs you do."

Gracie jerked away from her father and shoved Devin, hard, against the wall. He stumbled, then recovered and lunged for her, but Daddy quickly caught him in a headlock.

"I know she pushed you first," she heard Daddy muttering to her brother. "But don't forget you're bigger. You'll hurt her."

Keeping a hold on Devin, he looked up at her. "I think we need to talk."

"You? Talk?" The sarcasm card was something she'd learned from her mother. She didn't use it often, but when she was desperate, it tended to work pretty well. This, however, was not one of those times.

"Yes," he said tersely, cautiously releasing Devin, who glowered at her. "Listen, Grace. Mom and I didn't know you were feeling neglected because of the babies. We're sorry about that. But we don't want you seeing Markus."

"You don't even _know_ him," she snapped, flicking her hair behind her shoulder. "He loves me."

"If he loved you--"

"Then he wouldn't have cheated on me," Gracie finished, having heard Devin say the same thing multiple times. "People make mistakes, Daddy. Ever heard of second chances?"

"I have," he said, unmoved. "In fact, I've given and taken plenty of them. Cheating doesn't deserve a second chance, though, hon."

It probably wasn't the best idea, but she thrust her hand in his face, showing him her promise ring. Registering the shock on his face with satisfaction, she said, "He promised me."

Shaking his head, Daddy opened his mouth to say something, but then her mom's voice floated down from her bedroom. "Fang!"

"Yeah?"

"I'm hungry."

He sighed and handed the diary to Devin. "Be right there," he called. Looking from Gracie and Devin, he said, "Don't kill each other. Gracie… I don't even know what to say. I just don't." With that, he turned around and went into the kitchen, running a hand through his shaggy hair.

Once he was gone, Gracie turned to Devin and snatched her diary out of his hands. "I hate you," she snapped, feeling angry and upset and utterly betrayed. More than anything, though, she felt like sobbing. But she managed to wait until she was safely in her room with the door locked.

**Intervention! Drama! Dun dun dun!**

**Review, please? Please? With a cherry on top?**


	11. Chapter 11

**Okay, I've had a couple different people who were confused by the part where Gracie took Devin's knit cap as blackmail. This isn't the first time in this story that something I wrote confused a bunch of people-- guess I'm off my game? Anyway, Gracie was just threatening to take Devin's cap if he told Fang about Markus. That's all! : )**

**Happy reading!**

Okay, so, I didn't know _exactly_ what, but something was going on that I wasn't aware of. I was spending a lot of time sleeping, complaining about my aching back, throwing up, or rinsing my mouth with water when my gums started bleeding, but when I _wasn't_ in my bedroom doing one of the above, I noticed a change in the house's atmosphere. Everybody was acting weird: Gracie didn't say much of anything, only coming out of her room to eat, go to school, and go on walks, and Devin and Fang were more or less ignoring her. This had never happened before; Gracie was adored by both her dad and her brother, so to see them acting this way around her unnerved me.

On Christmas Eve, while the kids were upstairs getting ready for church-- we actually did go to church from time to time-- I cornered Fang in the kitchen, where he was making a quick sandwich before we left.

"What's wrong with Gracie?" I asked sternly, planting a hand on my hip.

"Gracie?" he asked nonchalantly. "I haven't really noticed anything wrong. How do you feel?"

"Don't change the subject," I said as one of the babies kicked. "If you don't tell me, I'll just go and ask her myself. And if I get it from _her_, the story will probably make _you_ look bad."

Fang sighed and skimmed his fingers over my humongous stomach. "We had a little argument."

I raised my eyebrows. "A little? You haven't spoken in a week."

"Okay, so it was pretty big." He cupped my face in his hands and looked into my eyes. "Don't worry about it, Max."

I opened my mouth to argue, but a look at his face told me that he was dead serious. Plus, I was getting sort of tired… and I still had to get through church. "Fine."

His face lit with a smile, and he crouched down to be eye level with my stomach. "How're Blake and Missouri doing?"

Rolling my eyes at the name Missouri-- though it was growing on me, I had to say-- I said, "They're gonna be good fighters some day."

"Well, duh. They're Maximum Ride's children," Fang teased, and pressed two kisses to my belly. "Hey," he said, pulling away suddenly, "wanna see my Christmas bonus?"

"Sure," I said as he stood and reached into his back pocket. I held out my hand, fully expecting to see the usual thousand-dollar-check, but that wasn't what he handed me.

"_Ten_ thousand?" I asked, gaping. "What-- how…?"

"We did really well this year." He shrugged. "They thought I had a lot to do with it."

"That's _great_," I said, feeling like jumping up and down. I would have, too, but I figured that would only hurt my back more. So I settled for winding my arms around his neck and hugging him tight. "We need that."

Fang pushed me back a little so he could kiss me, and I kissed back. We stood in the middle of the kitchen, holding each other and kissing like we hadn't been able to in what seemed like forever. The footsteps approaching the kitchen barely registered in my mind until Devin's voice made me open my eyes.

"Mom, have you seen my-- uh, never mind."

He left, shaking his head in disgust, but Fang and I were already breaking apart. I tucked my head under his chin for a moment, then pulled out of his embrace. "Alright," I said. "We should probably go."

0000000000

The car ride was just as awkward as this past week had been. Gracie and Devin sat in the back in silence, not even scuffling over who had to sit on which side (there was a stain on one of the back seats), and Fang kept his eyes on the road, not looking back at the kids once.

This seemed as good a time as any to tell them my idea, which I honestly didn't know what they'd think of. "I think I'd like Blake and Missouri to get baptized," I announced, breaking the silence.

Fang looked over at me. "Really?"

I nodded. "I think we should get baptized, too. All of us."

Nobody said anything. I guess it was weird to hear this from me, but I really felt like we should do this. All that time in my room had given me plenty of time to think, and it had occurred to me that with the genetic experimenting done to us, it would make total sense if Fang and I weren't able to get pregnant. But we had. And I saw that as a miracle, just as I had seen finding Gracie and Devin at the school as a miracle. Enough of a miracle to name Gracie after it, her name meaning "grace of God." The more I thought about it, the more I felt like the circumstances that brought me my kids were too incredible to happen on their own.

"That's a good idea," Gracie said finally. I looked at her in the rearview mirror. She looked like she meant it, but she was lacking the bubbly enthusiasm that was her trademark.

"What do you think?" I asked Fang.

He looked at me. "I think it's a good idea, too."

"Devin?" I wasn't able to twist around, so I tilted my head back to look at him. "You okay with that?"

"Yeah."

"Cool." I smiled to myself and looked out the window, both surprised and pleased with my family's decision. "We'll do it."

**I just realized this chapter is sort of like that one in Always You and Me where Fang gets his job at the newspaper. Hmm.**

**Push the green button… you know you want to… : )**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12! Yay!**

Gracie awoke to a repetitive thudding sound on her window. She sat up slowly, glancing at the clock and seeing it was 12:06-- Christmas morning. Another rock bounced off the window, and she climbed out of bed, a silly smile already spreading across her face.

"Markus!" she giggled once she'd opened the window. "Shh! You'll wake up my parents!"

"Come down here!" he whisper-yelled, looking up at her from the shadows below. "I want to tell you something."

"Can't you tell me now?" she asked, leaning out the window as far as she dared. "I don't want to risk waking everyone else up."

"No, no, come down here," he insisted, so Gracie closed the window and tiptoed down the hallway, scarcely daring to breathe as she passed Devin's closed door, and down the stairs. She opened the front door and there was Markus, standing on the porch, grinning.

"What did you--" she began, but then he kissed her long and hard, pulling her as close as possible. Any worries about her family finding out he was here drifted away as they kissed.

Suddenly, Markus pushed her back and ran his fingers through her messy curls. "Let's go."

"Go?" Gracie asked, confused. "Go where?"

"Get married," he said. "We can go right now. Why wait, if that's what we want? We can get away from all the people who are trying to keep us apart and never be bothered again."

A small part of her, Gracie had to admit, was tempted, but a bigger part thought of all the people she loved who were sleeping upstairs: her parents, Devin… and the babies. "Markus, I can't. Not now."

"Come on, Grace. I love you." As if to prove his point, Markus leaned forward and kissed her again. "Go pack a bag."

For the first time since she'd found out he was cheating, anger directed toward him flared inside her. "No. I'm not leaving my family."

Before she knew what as happening, he had her by the shoulders, his eyes turning cold and hard as he leaned close. "Yes you are."

"Markus," Gracie whispered, terrified at the sudden look of malice on his face. No more words would come; she was frozen.

"Don't even think about screaming," he hissed, "if you know what's good for your family. Now get a piece of paper and a pen. You're going to write a note."

0000000000

I woke up in the morning to the bright sun shining right in my eyes. I groaned and covered my eyes with my hand, snuggling closer to Fang. In his sleep, he tightened the arm he had around my huge middle and nuzzled his face into my shoulder.

Once we settled down and became more or less normal, Christmas morning was a time when I could expect to be dragged out of bed at six a.m. to open presents, but the flock had outgrown that long ago, and even Gracie and Devin hadn't done that for a couple years now. Last year, Fang and I had waited around until ten before finally dragging Gracie and Devin out of their beds and _forcing_ them to open presents. It looked like we'd be doing the same thing this year.

"Fang," I muttered, elbowing him in the ribs. He grunted. "Wake up."

"What is it?" he grumbled.

"It's Christmas."

"Cool."

I rolled my eyes and moved his arm from around me so I could ease myself into a sitting position. Someone kicked, and I exhaled sharply, taken by surprise. "Don't you want to see what the kids say when they get the certificates?"

After we'd decided to let the kids pick the twins' middle names, Fang had made two certificates using the computer. One said "This certificate presents Devin Ride with the opportunity to pick one middle name for a baby boy named Blake." The other said "This certificate presents Gracie Ride with the opportunity to pick one middle name for a baby girl named Missouri."

Fang shrugged. "I don't think Devin will be particularly enthused."

"Gracie will, though," I said, smiling at the thought of her squealing and throwing her arms around us, breaking out of the silent shell she'd retreated to lately. "Come on, let's go."

We got up and went to Devin's room first. I banged on the door, and when he didn't answer, I opened it. "Hey, buddy. Get up." Devin groaned and rolled onto his stomach, burying his face in his pillow. I marched over and ripped the covers off of him. I may have been pregnant, but I was still the drill sergeant in this house. "It's Christmas! Tidings of comfort and joy, ever heard of it?"

I left him griping about it being too early and continued down the hall to Gracie's room. "Grace, time to get up," I called. When there was no answer, I sighed and pushed open her door. "Seriously, why don't you guys--" I frowned. "She's not in there," I told Fang.

"Must be downstairs already," he said. After five more minutes of getting Devin out of bed, we went down. Gracie wasn't in the living room or the kitchen. I started to call her name, but then saw a piece of paper on the table.

I picked it up and read it, and then I started hyperventilating, my heart speeding up, blood pumping in my ears. "Oh my-- what-- Fang!"

Fang moved over to me and took the paper, and Devin stood behind us, reading over Fang's shoulder. I reread the note, the words hardly seeming real.

_Mom, Dad, and Devin (and Blake and Missouri),_

_I've gone away to be with Markus. I need to do this. We love each other. Please don't come after me; I'll be back as soon as I can._

_Love you all,_

_Gracie_

"I can't believe she _did_ that," Devin said angrily.

I bit my lip, shaking my head. Something didn't seem right here. "She isn't even dating Markus anymore."

Fang and Devin exchanged a glance, then looked guiltily at the floor. I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at them. "Is there something I don't know?"

And they told me. They told me that Gracie had, in fact, been seeing Markus for _months_ now, and Devin had confronted her about it on more than one occasion. They told me how Devin had dragged Fang into it last week, and they had staged another intervention, and that was why Gracie hadn't said much lately. They explained that they'd kept it from me so I wouldn't be stressed in my current state, and I was about to kick both their asses from here to next Wednesday.

"Well, why are we all just standing here?" I snapped. "She never goes anywhere without that cell phone. Call her!"

Fang picked up the house phone and dialed the number. I could hear it ringing, four times, and then her voicemail picked up. "Gracie Maximum Ride," he growled into the phone, using her full name for the first time in who knows how long, "pick up this phone _right now_." He waited for a second, and when there was no answer, he slammed the phone back onto the rocker.

"Do you think they went to Vegas to get married?" I asked, biting my thumb nail. "It's not that far."

Fang swore and grabbed his jacket from the back of a kitchen chair. "I'm going to get her."

"Where? We don't know where they went," I reminded him. "Just stay here for now."

He glared at me. "And do _what_? Let them get farther away?"

I didn't say anything. Instead, I sunk down silently into a chair and started rubbing my temples. "I don't know what to do."

The phone rang, a shrill sound that made us all go still.

I looked at Fang.

Fang picked up the phone as the second ring began and read the caller ID.

"It's her."

**Oooh. More drama! Love it, love it!**

**Review, please?**


	13. Chapter 13

**See, I only leave you guys with a cliffhanger for a couple of days. Aren't I nice? : )**

"Where are you?" Fang demanded as he answered the phone. I stood up and moved over to him as quickly as I could, sticking my head next to his.

"I'm in the parking lot at a convenience store somewhere in California," came Gracie's voice. It was trembling. "I can't stay on the phone for long, only until Markus comes back. I didn't want to leave, Daddy, I promise. He made me. He made me write that note and pack a bag so you would think I left by choice. I'm sorry, Daddy. I'm so sorry."

"Honey," I said, grabbing the phone from Fang, "don't be sorry. Nobody's mad. Just tell us where you are."

"I don't know-- it's in California, we left Arizona maybe a couple hours ago-- Markus is coming, I have to go. I love you, Momma!"

And then the line was dead. My little girl was gone.

"_Now_ I'm going to find her," Fang said, picking up his jacket again. This time, I didn't argue. My insides were shaking, and I felt like last night's dinner was about to come up. Fang came over and held my face to kiss me quickly. "Bye. I love you."

He looked at Devin and said, "Take care of your mom, man," then moved toward the front door. But Devin stood in front of the kitchen's doorway, blocking his path.

"I'll go," he said in a voice of steel, looking at Fang defiantly. "You stay here."

"Devin, stop--"

"Mom needs you more than she needs me," he said. "And, whether you want to admit it or not, I'm younger and quicker than you."

"I'm only twenty-five," Fang said defensively.

"I'm still better equipped in a fight," Devin said, and he was right. "Plus, I don't have a wife pregnant with _two_ kids."

A moment passed, and then Fang said, "You're _guilting_ me," in disbelief.

"That I am."

Both of them turned to me. I sighed and looked apologetically at Fang. "I think we should let him go."

Fang looked Devin up and down as if sizing him up. Devin raised his chin, daring him to say no.

Guys are so weird.

"Okay," Fang said finally. "Take a pack, just in case."

"_You_ weren't taking a pack!"

"Devin."

"Fine."

Devin grabbed some food and a chunk of money from our emergency drawer and left the room. Fang turned back toward me, running a hand through his hair. He leaned against the counter beside me and ducked his head. "I didn't want him to go because I wanted to know at least one of them was safe."

"I know," I said, resting my chin on his shoulder and rubbing circles on his back. "But he's right. If he ends up having to fight Markus, he'll be better at it than you."

"Max," he groaned. "You don't get it."

I drew back, raising my eyebrows. "I don't _get_ it? Do you know how hard it is for me not to go after her? If it wasn't for that," I said, motioning to my stomach, "I would have been flying out the window the second I read that note."

"Then why won't you let me do that, since I _can_?" Fang asked, throwing up his hands in exasperation.

"Because I would be thinking with my heart when I jumped out the window," I explained, trying not to snap at him. If I was going to have small children in the house soon, I'd have to get this patience thing down. "You're thinking with your heart when you want to take off after her. The only one thinking logically here is Devin."

He looked at the ceiling, then back at me. "You're right. Sorry."

"It's okay. We're all stressed."

"I'm leaving!" Devin called from the foyer. Fang and I joined hands and walked to the front of the house to say goodbye.

"Call us with updates," I said, clinging to my son. I closed my eyes and held him as close as possible, not wanting to let go. If only we could freeze time a week earlier, before the confrontation about Markus, when we were all happy…

"Mom," Devin rasped. "I can't breathe."

"Sorry," I said, pulling away and smoothing his blonde hair. "Do not lose that cell phone. I need to know where you are."

"I know, Mom."

I stepped back and let Fang and Devin do their man-hug thing, and then Devin was waving, a familiar half-smile on his face, and stepping outside. The door shut, and then Fang and I were alone in a house that suddenly seemed too big, full of a silence that was too loud.

I turned to look at the living room, the Christmas tree standing in the corner and the presents arranged underneath it. Most of it was for Gracie and Devin, but there were also things for each flock member-- all of them, including the ones at college, would be here this afternoon.

Not that it mattered. Because my daughter had been kidnapped by a sleazy boyfriend and my son was off saving her. And there was always the possibility they wouldn't make it back.

My eyes fell on those certificates, two flat packages sitting on the coffee table, and my throat closed up. Fang put his arms around me, pressing my head into his chest, and I started to sob, because I didn't want to have to pick my babies' middle names.

**Alright… review, please?**


	14. Chapter 14

**Okay, guys, a lot of you were pointing out how Gracie could have easily fought off Markus when he kidnapped her-- another thing I didn't make quite clear. What is my issue with this story? I'm usually right on top of stuff like that. Blah. Anyway, this is the line that apparently didn't do a very good job making clear why Gracie couldn't fight him:**

"**Don't even think about screaming," he hissed, "if you know what's good for your family. Now get a piece of paper and a pen. You're going to write a note."**

**He was gonna hurt the others if she didn't go along-- that's my fault; could've been written better. Sorry 'bout that, folks!**

Devin had been thinking of nothing but what was best for his family when he insisted that he go get Gracie instead of his dad. Now that he'd been flying for ten minutes, though, he realized that he didn't even have a plan, other than flying to California and hoping to find them. But he didn't know where they were, exactly, and California was a big place to be aimlessly wandering.

He started to head in the direction of the state, the backpack his dad had made him pack thumping against his back. That part he could do-- he and Gracie both had the same internal navigator system as the rest of the flock. They had a huge head start though, and his only chance to catch up with them was when they made an extended stop at a hotel or something. It might be a while until that happened.

_No matter what, though, _Devin promised himself, _I'm gonna save her._

With that thought holding firm in his mind, he pumped his tan wings harder and streaked across the sky.

0000000000

The day after Christmas, I wasted no time in taking down the fake Christmas tree-- actually, in ordering Fang to do it while I sat on the couch with a container of Ben & Jerry's. The flock had been determined to cheer me up when they found out about Gracie and Devin, and they had succeeded. Once they had left with their presents, though, and I was left to look at everything I'd wrapped for my kids, I couldn't do it.

The first thing Fang did was put their presents in a big cardboard box and take it to the garage so I didn't have to look at them, then moved onto the tree. I watched, feeling totally depressed, wanting to burst into tears every time I felt movement in my belly.

When the tree was in the box, Fang came over and gently took the ice cream and spoon from me and put them on the coffee table. He then grinned at me and pressed his lips to my neck, kissing down to my shoulder and then back up.

"Fang," I giggled. "We can't go there."

"Why?" he asked against my ear in an almost-whine.

"The doctor said, remember? Pregnant with twins equals not doing anything."

Fang groaned and pulled back. "Damn."

"Thanks for trying to cheer me up, though." I sighed, promptly falling into my bad mood again.

He sat down beside me and handed me back my ice cream. I lay on my back, my head falling into his lap, and continued scooping huge spoonfuls into my mouth. "We don't get time alone very often, though," he said, stroking his thumb over my forehead, which had recently acquired quite a few zits, courtesy of the wonderful side effects of having a kid. "We can go out tonight, if you want."

"I don't know that I'll be able to enjoy it," I said, licking my spoon clean and digging in for more.

"You know, I know this whole deal has parallels to our world-saving years-- Gracie getting kidnapped and all-- which aren't exactly pleasurable memories, but this isn't actually a big deal, by our standards," Fang said. "I think it's only freaking us out because of what we've been through. It's not like Devin went off to take down Itex or anything."

"True." I continued to mull over Fang's words in my head, and the more I did so, the more I decided they made sense. "Okay, let's go to dinner. We'll see if we can enjoy ourselves."

0000000000

Actually, I did manage to enjoy myself. After the waitress's fascination with my pregnancy ("Oh, when are you due? Do you know if it's a boy or girl? Oh, twins! That's wonderful!") faded enough for her to take our orders and bring us our food, Fang became the only thing I saw. I forgot that our kids were missing, I forgot that the rest of our family had gone back to their various parts of the country, and I even forgot I was pregnant as the world narrowed down to Max and Fang, Fang and Max, the best of friends, flinging spaghetti at each other and laughing.

"This is like the time we went to the pizza buffet and I thought that guy was spying on us, so I threw my plate at him to let him know we were onto him," I said, giggling at the memory.

"And he had no idea what you were doing," Fang added, reaching across the table to pull a stand of spaghetti out of my hair.

"And we got kicked out," I finished, throwing back my head as I laughed. At the time, it hadn't been nearly as funny, but years later, it was hilarious.

"That was rich," Fang said, wiping his mouth on a napkin. "You sent that whole heaping plate of pasta and pizza flying across the room. Never seen anything like it."

"Oh, I'm sure that's not true. Erasers, Flyboys, M-Geeks, brains on a stick… and you're most impressed with flying Italian food?"

"Sadly, yes." He flashed me a big grin before taking a bite of his food, which actually ended up in his mouth, not on me.

I smiled and looked back at my plate. Under the table, Fang subtly hooked his foot around mine. It felt natural, right, like two puzzle pieces coming together. We each ate with one hand so we could hold hands over the table, our eyes meeting in the comfortable silence--

"Are you ready for your check?"

I winced, then looked up at the preppy waitress standing next to our table. Someone just always had to ruin the moment, didn't they?

Afterward, though, when we were heading across the parking lot to the car, Fang came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, somehow managing to get them all the way around. "That girl's not out _here_," he said, a smile in his voice, in my ear.

"No, she's not," I agreed. "But it's sort of chilly, so I don't really want to have a moment right now."

"No problem." In the next second, Fang was effortlessly-- effortlessly! Even with all the extra weight!-- picking me up bridal style and carrying me toward our car. "We'll have a moment later."

Now, that I could do.

**Alright, just kind of a fluffy filler chapter. Hope that satisfies your Fax fix for the day! : )**


	15. Chapter 15

Devin stepped into the McDonald's in suburban San Francisco and headed for an isolated table in the back corner. He sat down there, putting his feet in one of the other chairs, and pulled out his cell phone to call his parents.

"Devin?" He rolled his eyes as his mom picked up on the first ring. "Are you okay? Did you find her?"

"Not exactly," he said with a grimace. This whole week had been spent flying over every square inch of California, searching the coast, flying low over the highways in search of that sleek black car, but there was no luck. "Have you found anything that could help us find her?"

Mom sighed. "Nothing. We turned her room inside-out, we went through and read her diary, and there was absolutely nothing."

"I'll keep looking," Devin said, trying not to sound discouraged, and then changed the subject before he did. "How're you feeling?"

"Oh, I'm fine." There was a noise that sounded suspiciously like his dad's scoffing in the background. "Shut up, Fang," Mom snapped, and then got back on the phone. "Okay, so maybe I'm a _little_ stressed. Just a little."

Devin slumped down in his chair and yawned. Sleeping in trees definitely wasn't as comfortable as his nice, comfy bed at home. "Don't worry, Mom. I've got everything under control."

After speaking with his dad briefly, Devin took out five bucks and went to the front of the restaurant to order. When he left, he had about two hundred dollars in his pocket, but he'd spent too much on food, and now he was down to forty. At this rate, this trip would last quite a while, so he had to start watching his money.

As he sat down with his food, feeling sort of lonely, he thought he heard someone call his name. Devin turned and looked, but nobody was looking in his direction, so he shrugged and turned back to his tray.

_Devin._

This time, it was unmistakable. He _had_ heard his name. The first time had been more of a whisper, a couple syllables that could have been anything, but whoever was there was definitely saying Devin.

_I'm in your head._

"What?" he exclaimed, jumping slightly in his seat. A couple people a few tables away looked over at him, then kept eating. _You're in my _head_?_ he thought, horrified.

_Didn't your mom ever tell you about her Voice?_

Holy crap. _That_ Voice? This was _the_ notorious Voice?

_No, _the Voice said, and Devin could have sworn he heard it snicker. _I'm your mom's Voice's daughter. I'm your age._

_That's not weird, _Devin thought sarcastically, to himself or to the Voice he wasn't sure.

_You're telling me. My mom was some, like, bad-scientist-turned-good, and she talks about her adventures in Maximum Ride's head _all_ the time. Right now she has pretty bad pneumonia, so guess who got stuck helping you?_

Whenever his mom talked about the Voice, she always mentioned, with a roll of her eyes, its reluctance to give her any straight information or even to identify itself. In the past sixty seconds, though, Devin had got just about everything except for a name from the Voice's daughter. Wasn't there, like, a Voice manual she needed to follow?

_Sarcasm. Just like your mother,_ the Voice said dryly. Another thing: contrary to what Mom had always said about the Voice being emotionless, this one seemed to be kind of sassy. _Okay, look, Devin. Enough about my sass or whatever. It's time to rescue your sister._

Devin snapped to attention as if ordered by an army general. _Right. Where is she?_

_The School._

The name alone made his blood run cold, his veins nothing but ice. Even though he didn't have any actual memories of the place where he'd been born, little snippets of it came to him sometimes. Sometimes there were nightmares, though they were few and far between. Either way, it was the last place he wanted to be.

It was also the last place he wanted Gracie to be.

_Whoa,_ he thought suddenly. _Hold it. My mom burned down the school._

_Yeah, eight years ago. Plenty of time to rebuild it._

Devin rubbed his forehead and closed his eyes. _Why would she be at the School? Her boyfriend kidnapped her, in case you didn't know._

_Oh, I know, _the Voice said. _You're not all that bright if you can't figure out what's going on here._

Devin scowled down at his food, untouched because of his… thought conversation with someone. _Gonna fill me in?_

_Markus is Chu's son, Devin._

**Sorry it's so short, maybe I'll update again tomorrow if this chapter's review response is good!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Here's the next chapter because I got so many reviews last chapter! Actually, I forgot this yesterday, but I would've posted this chapter anyway, since it's really short and last chapter was, too. Heh.**

**In other news… I went to a Jason Aldean concert last night! It was AMAZING!!! If he's gonna be near you, go see him. Seriously.**

Fang walked up the stairs, his footsteps seeming to echo everywhere. It was so quiet without Gracie and Devin around; the house felt so empty. This saddened him, but then he remembered that before too long, there'd be two screeching babies here, and he decided to enjoy it while he could.

Except that he sort of couldn't, not with his and Max's worry about what was happening with Gracie and Devin. Devin was still calling every day, but he was yet to find Gracie, and if Max wasn't in bed pretty much all the time, Fang would have taken off to help him already.

He stopped at the top of the stairs and glanced to his left, in the direction of Gracie and Devin's rooms. Then he turned on his heel and headed to his and Max's room, where he could see the light of a lamp slanting through the doorway.

"Max?" he called softly, but there was no answer. Frowning, he stepped into the room and opened his mouth, but stopped when he saw his wife.

Max was laying down, her head propped up by some pillows, breathing evenly with her eyes closed. The book she'd been reading was open on her chest, left there when she fell asleep. Fang didn't miss the way one hand was firmly on her stomach-- protecting her children, even in unconsciousness.

The last two weeks had been really hard on both of them, but for Max and her natural maternal instincts, Max and her ability to freak out when anyone she loved was in danger, it was worse. She recognized this as much as Fang did, and then she got even _more_ stressed out about it, because she worried her stress was hurting the babies. And that was the last thing she wanted.

Fang walked further into the room and flicked the lamp off, leaving them with only the sunlight coming through the curtains. He crawled over to Max's other side and moved the book to the side table before cuddling up to her, reaching over to hold her hand. As he shifted, getting comfortable, his eyes fell on her belly bulge.

Twenty-four weeks. For twenty-four weeks now, her babies… his babies… _their_ babies had been alive, their tiny hearts beating, squirming around inside of her. Two little miracles they hadn't been sure they could have, even after the tests said they could. Two children who were pieces of them, children they'd created _together_.

Fang sat up so he could lean forward and lower his ear to Max's stomach. He could feel them kicking. It made him smile, and he turned his face to kiss the shirt-covered skin twice.

"Fang?" Max mumbled, awakening at the contact. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Nothing," he whispered, laying back beside her and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Go back to sleep."

And so they both did.

**The calm before the storm…**

**Review, review, people!**


	17. Chapter 17

Devin sat up, rubbing his eyes. Whatever was under him was hard and uncomfortable, and as he looked around, he saw that everything around him was dull shades of gray and white.

He didn't know where he was. The last thing he remembered was launching into the air after hanging up with his parents, but only being aloft a moment before pain shot through his shoulder and everything went black.

Then, as he wondered what the heck had happened, he realized what was between him and the opposite wall: bars. Like in a cage.

A _cage_.

"Oh, no," Devin breathed, now fully awake, looking around wildly. Everything looked exactly as his parents had described it and exactly as he'd seen it in his dreams: dog crates and cages, weird combinations of species, needles and medical equipment.

It looked like the School.

"Devin?"

Devin snapped his head around and completely lost his breath, he was so relieved, when he saw Gracie beside him. She was pale and dirty, her curls limp, shaking and scared and vulnerable. But she was there, and she was alive, and that's what mattered right now.

"Are you okay?" Devin whispered frantically, pressing his face against the bars of his cage. "How did you get here?"

"Markus brought me here," Gracie said sadly, tears filling her already bloodshot eyes. "You were right all along. He was a bad seed. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. You can say I told you so."

"Grace, I'm not gonna say I told you so," he sighed. Biting his lip in concentration, he reached through the bars of his cage, straining for her hand. When she met him halfway, he was able to squeeze her fingers. "We just need to focus on getting out of here."

"I don't know how," she whispered, glancing around in fear. "Momma and Daddy never thought the School would, like, rebuild itself. They never taught us how to fight or fend for ourselves. What are we gonna _do_?"

Devin squeezed her fingers again, then drew his arm back. "They may not have actually _taught_ us, but we have their genes, which means we have their instincts."

Gracie wrinkled her nose at him in confusion. "You can't inherit _instincts_."

"Wanna bet?" he asked, smirking, thinking of the Voice in his head which seemed, in fact, very instinctual.

_Don't count on it, _the Voice chimed in. _I don't really know what I'm doing any more than you do._

Ignoring the less-than-encouraging reminder, Devin smirked at the curious expression on Gracie's face and said, "I have a Voice."

Her eyes widened, orbs of black in the dim light. "Like Mom's?"

"Sort of," Devin answered, and ducked his head so she wouldn't see his smile widen. Something about this sassy, tough Voice gave him hope that they _would_ get out of here-- even if she, too, was an untrained fourteen-year-old.

Gracie started to say something else, but footsteps sounded from the other side of the closed door on the left side of the room. They both froze and stared at each other, terrified, as the door creaked opened and two scientists in long white coats strode in.

_Alright, I know enough to tell you not to mess with these guys. Your mom gave them a lot of lip, and she was punished. The only reason they didn't just get rid of her was because she was so valuable. They don't care whether you and Gracie live or not._

_You talk a lot,_ Devin thought. _I thought the Voice was supposed to speak in riddles._

_Focus on what's going on, nimrod!_

Right. He gave Gracie a hard look, willing her to get the message: Do not fight them. She squinted at him, and then nodded, and he relaxed very slightly.

"Here's our newcomer," the taller whitecoat said to the shorter, balding one, pointing at Devin. "Captured about 100 miles north of here."

"What's with the hat?" the bald one said, kneeling in front of the cage with a mildly amused expression on his pudgy face.

Devin narrowed his eyes at him, reaching up to tug his hat down over his ears. The taller one stuck his hand through the bars of the cage, palm open. "Give me the hat."

He opened his mouth to bark at him-- _no one _touch his hat-- but the Voice urgently said, _Don't make them mad!_

"Fine," he grumbled, yanking the hat off and slamming it into the whitecoat's hand. All the warmth left his head, and now his bangs were hanging in his eyes.

"Thank you," the whitecoat said, sliding the hat into a pocket of his long coat. Seeing the evil scientist keep something of his away from him made Devin sick to his stomach. "Little Subject Seven had her blood drawn already. It's your turn."

The lock to his cage was undone, the door swung open, and the whitecoats were waiting for him to crawl out. Beside him, he could hear Gracie whimpering. Devin didn't want to leave her in this scary room alone. He opened his mouth to tell the whitecoats to buzz off, but the stupid Voice yelled, _No! How many times do I have to tell you to go along with them?_

Gritting his teeth, Devin stumbled out of his cage and let each whitecoat grab one of his arms. They led him to the door, and before he was shoved through, he twisted his head to look at Gracie over his shoulder. She was crying, fat tears rolling down her cheeks.

_Make sure nothing happens to her, _Devin thought hard at the Voice. _Please._

_I will,_ the Voice answered, not snippily, just honestly. _Don't worry, Devin. She'll be fine._

**Ta-da…**

**Since I update every other day I don't usually have much to say in my author's notes… so… review, I guess!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Haha, I liked writing the beginning of this chapter. It's kind of funny. : )**

"Max?" Fang knocked on the bathroom door. "Are you okay?"

I growled under my breath as I dried my hands on a towel, then flung the door open to be face-to-face with him. "I'm six months pregnant. I'm _gonna_ need to use the bathroom all the time. Nothing's _wrong_, besides the fact that I'm fat and tired and my bladder is tiny and it's all _your_ fault!"

Fang stuck his hands in his pockets, unbothered. He was used to my moody outbursts by now. "I put the other crib together, so I'm going to rearrange the nursery now."

"Ooh." I smiled. "I wanna watch!"

We went down the hallway to the babies' room, and I sat down in the rocking chair and watched Fang pull the dresser away from one wall, leaving room for the second crib.

"Are all their clothes in that dresser?" I asked.

"Yep," Fang said proudly. "Blake's on the right side, Missouri's on the left."

"Fang, baby room extraordinaire," I teased as he wheeled the crib up against the wall. The cribs were now across from each other, the heads of them in opposite corners of the same wall. He turned around and made a face at me, and I laughed.

I looked around the room, at the pink blanket in one of the cribs and the blue one in the new one, the two little teddy bears my mom had bought sitting side-by-side on the changing table. Putting this room together, making room for two new little miracles in my life, had been amazing. But right now, it was bringing my thoughts back to Gracie and Devin and how, when I discovered them, I didn't bring them home to a nice, decorated bedroom-- we camped out in a cave. And the next day, I took them to Wal-Mart for clothes. And Fang wasn't eagerly preparing for their arrival-- he didn't even want them at first.

They'd been so… _screwed_.

"Max?" Fang stepped away from the dresser, which he'd pushed up against the wall in-between the two cribs. I realized, as he came toward me with his arms outstretched, that I was crying, and hastily swiped my hand across my face.

"What's wrong?" he murmured, holding me close, my shoulder pressed to his chest. "Come on, baby. Don't cry."

"I--" I gulped in a big breath and leaned into Fang. "I just w-wish I could h-have given birth to G-Gracie and Devin, and p-put together a r-room like this, a-and…"

Fang turned my head so my face was hidden in his chest instead of my shoulder. I clung to him desperately, and then the emotions I'd kept under wraps for a few days now came tumbling out. "I miss them, I w-want to know w-where they are! D-Devin hasn't c-called in a w-week…"

He stiffened. Neither of us had mentioned the fact that we hadn't heard from Devin in quite a while, like if we kept it silent then it wouldn't mean anything bad. Inwardly, though, I'd spent every second of every day watching the phone, wishing it would ring, wanting to hear my baby's voice on the other end. And with every passing hour of silence, I grew more anxious.

"His phone's probably just dead," Fang tried to reassure me, though he didn't sound so sure himself. "There aren't a lot of places to charge it."

"He would have found a payphone or something," I said miserably, grabbing a fistful of his black t-shirt.

"Devin's a good fighter. He has common sense," Fang said, kissing the top of my head. "He'll be fine."

"But what about Gracie? What do you think Markus was planning to do to her?" I took a deep, shuddering breath, then forced myself to voice the unthinkable. "Does he want to… get rid of her?"

Fang sucked in a breath and held me even tighter. "Don't think about it," he whispered into my hair.

"Maybe you should go look for them," I mumbled, even though I didn't want him anywhere but here, ready to take me in his arms every time my heart broke. If my kids being safe meant I had to live without Fang for a few days, though, then I could deal.

He pulled back slightly so he could look into my face. "Max. No. I'm not going anywhere."

"But the kids--"

"Are somewhere in California, alive and in one piece," he said firmly, taking my hand and kissing it. "The last thing you need right now is for your whole family to be MIA."

"I'll go stay with my mom or something," I argued, no more tears leaking from my eyes. "I'll be fine."

Fang shook his head. "The reason Devin went in the first place was so I could stay with you. So that's what I'm doing."

I sighed and slumped in the rocking chair, crossing my arms. "Fine."

He smoothed my hair comfortingly. "Relax, Max. Just have some ice cream and chill."

**Yeah, so. Short, sorry! Next one's longer! Meanwhile, review please!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Here is this story's Crappy Action Scene. Try to muddle through it.**

Devin was miserable. He was filthy, his clothes were torn, there were bruises covering his skin, and the scientists were only giving him two small meals a day. Every time his stomach growled, he saw Gracie wince, feeling like it was her fault he was suffering.

_You're a better person than me, _the Voice said. _If she were _my_ sister, I'd be cussing her out._

Devin smirked, picking at a loose thread on his shirt. This past week, the Voice had actually been a sort of comfort for him. Whenever he was bored, he would talk to her, just about whatever-- school, parents, the normal kid stuff they both shared… and the odder things they both shared: their parents' history, their somewhat strange childhoods, the fact that he had wings and she had the ability to talk inside people's heads. For the first time in his life, Devin had a confidant who wasn't a family member-- he'd always been a loner, never had many friends.

_I probably am a better person than you, _he thought back, wondering if a teasing tone could be conveyed in telepathic communicating. Apparently, it could, because a second later he heard a laugh echoing in his brain-- one of those contagious laughs that takes you right along with it.

"What are you smiling about?" Gracie whispered, furrowing her brow, not having any Voice to keep _her_ entertained.

"The Voice," Devin answered. "She's kinda funny."

"_She_?" Gracie grinned. "Ooh, look who has a girlfriend!"

"Shut up," he muttered, but his cheeks flushed, and he couldn't figure out why.

"Hey." She leaned forward, her eyes burning with anticipation. "Ask your girlfriend when we can get out of here."

_Okay, _the Voice chimed in, _she's _really_ annoying me, and I'm not even there._

_But when _can_ we get out of here? _Devin asked. _Haven't we waited long enough?_

There was a pause, and then, _We could put the plan in place now, I guess. I'm not as good at this as my mom, though, so if you die, please don't blame me…_

Usually, this would be enough for Devin to ignore the Voice and take matters into his own hands, but it wasn't like he had a better idea. Besides, he trusted the Voice in a way he didn't quite understand, a kind of trust he'd never felt before.

_Okay, _he thought determinedly, already scanning the room for weapons. _Let's do it._

0000000000

Devin and Gracie were tense, their muscles tight, as they crouched in their cages, waiting for the whitecoats to fetch them for their daily test. They always got their blood drawn first, then had to do a maze or something, then got it drawn afterward. It was horrible.

And they weren't going to do it again.

Four whitecoats came in, ready to escort the twins to some other room. They stopped in front of their cages, smirking down at them.

_Do not chicken out, _the Voice said tersely. _You're stronger than them. Don't be intimidated._

Devin kept sitting still, and then he felt his body shiver slightly. From the appalled looks on the whitecoats' faces, he could tell that he'd accomplished what he wanted: he'd made himself disappear.

"What the--?" A whitecoat knelt beside Devin's cage and opened it, peering inside cautiously. As soon as the door swung open, he launched himself at the scientist, visible again, and locked his teeth around the shocked man's wrist, tasting blood but not letting go because the scream was so satisfying.

While two whitecoats tried to pry Devin off their coworker, another opened Gracie's cage. Out of the corner of his eye, Devin saw her bite him just as hard. The two scientists' shrieks made him smile.

What happened next was a blur. Gracie and Devin flung aimless punches and kicks at the scientists, only overpowering them because of their superhuman strength, not because of any developed skills. Still, they got to the point where the four whitecoats were on the floor, bleeding and unconscious.

_Go out the left door, _instructed the Voice. _And up the stairs to the third floor._

Devin motioned to Gracie to follow him and headed in that direction. The other experiments were staring at them, wide-eyed, as if they just couldn't believe that someone had fought back against the bad guys.

They opened the heavy door and rushed up the stairs, taking them three at a time, their footsteps echoing in the corridor. Devin had a one-track mind, able to think of nothing but running, nothing but getting out of this place.

At the third floor, they stopped in front of another heavy door. They leaned against the wall, trying to catch her breath, but the person on the other side of the door didn't give them a chance.

Markus saw them standing there and narrowed his eyes, reaching behind him to press a red button marked SECURITY. "I suggest you two get back in your cages pretty quickly. If you know what's good for you."

Devin felt Gracie tremble next to him and protectively moved in front of her. "I'll fight you," he snarled, clenching his fists.

"Like you did in the janitor's closet?" Markus scoffed. "When a _girl_ managed to hold you back? Yeah, you sure--"

His head snapped back when Devin threw a punch at his chin. While he was still recovering, he threw another. "That's for my sister," he hissed, the adrenaline really going now, ready to fuel another attack.

Markus straightened up and kicked at Devin's ankles, making him fall back. Gracie was still behind him, and she leaped out of the way before he could knock her down. Markus advanced on Devin, and Gracie snuck into the office because neither of the boys were looking.

Markus and Devin scuffled a minute-- neither were extraordinary fighters, so it was more like an elementary-school-playground-bully fight, lots of bark and little bite.

When Gracie came out of the room, Markus had Devin in a headlock. He was focused on keeping his grip, so he didn't notice what she was holding. Only Devin did. And he grinned.

Before Markus noticed, Gracie flung the smaller bomb at the ceiling, opening a hole big enough for them to fly through. With one jerk, Devin got out of Markus' arms and extended his wings, launched himself into the air, and went out ahead of Gracie.

The cool air hitting his face was relief, but it only lasted a second. As they headed toward the center of the building, Gracie holding the huge bomb with thirty more seconds on it, shots were fired at them from inside the School. One clipped Devin's wing, making him grunt in pain, but he kept flying.

"There's only fifteen seconds left!" Gracie yelled. "Go, go, go!"

They pumped their wings as hard as they could, each stroke making Devin grimace. With five seconds left, the bomb started beeping. Two seconds later, they arrived at the center of the building, and Gracie threw it down. They both launched themselves into the air, out of the range of the bomb.

From above, they watched the world flash yellow and orange as the bomb exploded. And then they watched the ashes rise, the building crumble, the ground below them nothing but black.

_You've done it,_ the Voice said solemnly. _Markus was Chu's last descendent. Every whitecoat in that building has been destroyed. We're done here._

Devin broke his gaze away from the remains of the School and thought desperately, _Wait. Are you leaving now? _He didn't want her to leave. He liked having a… friend. Someone to talk to. Someone who understood.

The Voice didn't say anything at first. Then she said, _I'll be here as you need me. Now head on home._

**Yeah, so… if you read Becoming You and Me and Always You and Me, you know that I have really bad action scenes… we're done with that for this story. So I would celebrate, if I were you!**

**And a good way to celebrate is with a review.**

**That rhymed… you, review…**


	20. Chapter 20

**Happy Easter, guys! Jesus Christ has risen : ) Blessings to you and yours!**

It had been a month since Markus kidnapped Gracie.

It had been two weeks since I'd heard anything from Devin.

Two weeks since I'd been sane.

I hated this. I hated it so much. No matter what Fang said, no matter how much ice cream he gave me or how many hugs and kisses, I could not be reassured. I just had a difficult time believing that Devin wouldn't _at least _be able to scrape together enough change for a call from a payphone. There were so many things that could happen, and with my out-of-this-world childhood, every one of them was believable.

Meanwhile, I was peeing several times a day, my gums were bleeding, crossing a room made me short of breath, my back hurt _all_ the time, and my left cheek had zits all over it. I'd never been one to let injuries or anything else sideline me, but now, I was spending most of my time in bed or on the couch with the phone next to me, because Fang called multiple times a day to check on me. His obvious anxiety as I entered my seventh month of pregnancy wasn't calming mine. We were probably the tightest wound couple in the state of Arizona.

It was Saturday, and Fang was home. He made me lunch, meaning he boiled spaghetti and dumped some sauce on it. When I went into the dining room, though, I saw that he'd turned off the lights, closed the blinds, and lit two candles in the middle of the table. Laying between the candles was a single red rose, waiting for me.

"Ready for your gourmet spaghetti?" Fang asked, grinning as he stepped out of the shadows. I smiled as he took my hand and pulled out my chair for me, then helped me sit down.

"Depends. Did you actually cook it long enough this time?" I quipped, and he made a face as he walked over to his side of the table. I twirled some spaghetti around my fork and popped it in my mouth. Actually, it was _much_ better than last time.

"Good?" Fang asked, taking a bite of his own.

I nodded. "Good."

We ate, the candlelight flickering over our faces. I was mesmerized by the way it lightened Fang's tan skin, making him, well… mesmerizing.

"What?" he asked, catching me staring at him and totally ruining the image by talking with his mouth full.

I smiled, shaking my head. "Nothing."

After lunch, we wandered into the living room. I slowly sat down on the couch, one hand on my aching lower back.

"Do you want to watch TV?" Fang asked, picking up the remote. "Or a movie?"

"Um…" I thought. "See what's on TV."

Plopping down beside me, he began to flip through the channels, passing lots of talk shows and two sports reels and the cooking channel. None of this caught either of our interests, so I stood up. "I have to pee."

"Again?" Fang asked, and I reached down to smack him on the back of the head before marching down the hall to the bathroom, seething at his blatant insensitivity.

When I came back, Fang held his arms out, inviting me into his lap, and my anger evaporated, a soft smile spreading across my face. I hesitated, though, thinking about how fat and ugly I was and suddenly feeling very self-conscious about it.

"I'll squish you," I said, taking a step back. My tone was supposed to be teasing, but my voice shook a bit.

Fang fixed me with his warm gaze, and I almost gasped at all the emotion swimming in them. The only times I'd seen him look at me like that were the day he proposed and the moment he looked into my eyes and said "I do." Every ounce of love that had been there seven years ago was still there. And I could tell, as I walked over and curled up in his lap, that despite my acne and weight, he still saw me as the most beautiful girl in the world.

"Thanks," I murmured, pressing my face into his chest, feeling his heart thrumming under my ear.

"No problem," he whispered into my hair. That was how we drifted off to sleep in the midday light: wrapped in each others' arms.

0000000000

Some time later, when the sun was setting outside, I woke to a pain in my stomach. I clenched my teeth and waited for it to pass. Then I relaxed my muscles and gently shifted my head out from under Fang's chin so as not to wake him.

When another cramp came, it was worse, and I grabbed my stomach, beginning to breathe hard. Was this normal? Oh, no-- were the babies okay?

"Fang!" I hit his shoulder, and he jerked awake. "I'm having cramps or contractions or something," I said. Another one swept over me, _so_ painful, and I desperately tried not to whimper. "Call the doctor."

Fang gently moved me off his lap, leaning me back against some pillows, and then half-jogged into the kitchen. I stayed where I was, listening to Fang on hold at the doctor's office and praying hard that whatever was going on, my children were safe.

…Why did I feel wet?

I looked around for a spilled water glass or something, and then stopped, my eyes widening.

Oh.

_Oh._

Oh, oh, oh, _shit._

"Fang!" I wailed, panicking. I was at twenty-seven weeks. Only twenty-seven. This was _not_ normal. Not good. "I think my water broke!"

**Uh-oh!**

**Dun, dun, dun…**

**Push the little review button!**


	21. Chapter 21

**There's only two chapters and a epilogue after this! It seems like just yesterday that I was beginning to write Becoming You and Me. But that was actually six months ago.**

**But guys, whether you've been reading that whole time or just recently found this story or the trilogy, I want to thank all of you so much for making this my most successful fan fiction project ever. It's been a blast, and even though my interest in Maximum Ride died out sometime while I was writing Always You and Me, it's sort of come back since I decided to finish this trilogy. And so-- and I'm not making any promises, but I would say this is a legitimate possibility-- I may have another story in the works. Not for this trilogy, but it is Maximum Ride.**

**Anyway, thanks again, and enjoy!**

I was gonna die, I was gonna die. For the love of Pete, I was gonna die.

I didn't exactly know what was going on. I remembered Fang helping me to the car and driving quickly through the Tucson streets, his cell phone clamped to one ear, first calling my mom and then the flock. Whenever we were at a stop light, he would take his hand off the steering wheel and squeeze mine over the console.

After we got to the hospital, things got blurry. I was wheeled down the hall in a wheelchair and helped into a bed. Doctors and nurses were bustling around, yelling out orders, hooking me up to stuff. The only things I was sure of were the pain and Fang, standing at my side, massaging one of my hands between both of his.

"I want more drugs!" I barked.

"You can't have any more for a while," Fang said apologetically.

"I don't _care_! Give me some!"

Now he ignored me, turning to say something to Dr. Gordon at the foot of my bed, and I glared at the back of his head. If he felt my eyes on him, he didn't acknowledge it. "Max," he said a second later, "I'm gonna go talk to the doctor. Be right back."

"_No_," I growled, tightening my grip on his hand. If I wasn't getting more medicine, I at least needed someone to stand beside me. "Don't go anywhere."

"Just for a second," Fang said, prying my fingers away from his. "I promise I'll be back." He disappeared from my side as another contraction came, and I gritted my teeth. Where did he go? I freaking _needed_ him here!

After what seemed like forever but, in reality, was probably only a few minutes, Fang leaned over me again, moving sweaty strands of hair away from my face. "They can't delay a preterm delivery," he said gently as I breathed harder and harder. "You're in labor."

0000000000

Gracie and Devin crossed the Arizona state line in the dark. They had found a drug store to get some bandages for Devin's wing, then found a low-profile, mostly empty burger joint where they could eat (the whitecoats had taken Devin's pack, but not the money that was in his pockets) and rest up before making the flight home. Once they'd crossed the state line, it would take another hour and a half for Devin to get home, but Gracie had her super speed, so the two locked hands and flew toward Tucson at over two hundred miles an hour.

As their neighborhood came into sight and they prepared to coast into the woods a couple blocks from their house, Gracie let go of Devin and said, "I can't _wait_ to see Momma and Daddy. They're not mad, right? They believed me?"

"'Course they did," he told her as they passed through the tree tops and touched down on the grass.

"How far along is Mom now? Like, seven months?" She started skipping happily toward the clearing, heading for the sidewalk.

"Something like that." Devin nodded and brushed his bangs down to cover his eyes, since his hat wasn't there to do it for him. He was trying to hide his face so she wouldn't see how ecstatically happy he was to be back here. They would go home, see Mom and Dad, have dinner together, and go to bed full and happy, their lives normal once again.

There was one small part of him, though, that reminded him this his normal life included being a loner, no one to share his thoughts with. It had never bothered him this much before; in fact, he preferred it this way. But now that he'd had the experience of talking to someone who really understood, he wanted it back. He wanted the Voice back.

"I'm so excited to have a little sister," Gracie said, bringing him back to the here and now. "Too bad we'll be out of the house when they're only four. But still, I can just see it: she'll be thirteen and I'll be twenty-seven but we'll still be _so_ close, she'll call me with all her boy problems."

"Yeah," Devin said, thinking about what he would say to Blake when they talked on the phone. A teenage Blake probably wouldn't want to call him, who'd barely ever spoken to a girl, much less asked one out, for girl advice.

Gracie kept talking as they walked home, but Devin didn't join in except to nod at the appropriate intervals. The last month had felt like three years. He was worn out and exhausted and kind of depressed. A hot dinner and warm bed sounded just about perfect.

"All the lights are out," Gracie said, puzzled, as they turned onto their street. "And the car's gone."

"Maybe they went out." Devin shrugged.

"They don't go out much, though," she said, walking a little quicker. "And it looks kind of late."

They sped up to a light jog. By the time they came up to the house, Devin was feeling some of that anxiety himself. It _was_ awfully dark, and something felt… off.

They hurried up the steps, and Gracie didn't even try knocking before grabbing the spare key from underneath the welcome mat and using it to open the door.

"Mom?" she called, stepping into the dark foyer with Devin right behind her. The light from the street allowed them to see the outlines of the pictures hanging on the wall. "Daddy?"

"I don't know where they would be," Devin said, sounding totally cool and collected despite the panic slowly mounting inside him.

There was a sigh that he assumed came from Gracie, but as he turned to reassure her, he heard a different voice. _Well, looks like you need me. So I'm back._

Devin felt immensely relieved, which he knew was mildly crazy. Whenever his mom talked about the Voice, she talked about how annoying it was, but his had given him a lot of comfort during those hard days at the School. _You know where our parents are?_

_At the hospital._

Devin couldn't help taking in a sharp breath. Gracie looked at him quizzically, and he grabbed her wrist. "They're at the hospital," he said. "The Voice said."

"Oh my gosh, is something wrong with the babies?" Gracie asked frantically, rushing back outside and unfurling her wings, not thinking about who might see them. They took off, and Devin repeated her question to the Voice, but there was no response.

As they headed toward the hospital, Devin inwardly sighed. This was a time when he wished the Voice would decide he needed her.

0000000000

Fang walked out of the delivery room to the waiting room outside after being ordered by Max to "get the hell out." At first, he'd ignored her, but when he tried to kiss her on the forehead, she pushed his face away. So here he was, walking to an empty chair in the corner, hearing her screams and wanting nothing more than to take her pain away. It'd been more than seven hours, and this was the first time he'd left that room.

With a sigh, he dropped down into the chair and looked around. Dr. Martinez, Ella, Iggy and Angel had gone down to the cafeteria to eat about ten minutes earlier, and they weren't back yet. The people around him were all with others; he was the only loner. And, from the looks of it, the only dad-to-be.

Fang looked into his lap. All he wanted right now was to be with Max, but if she was moody while not pregnant, then frankly, he should have expected to be kicked out of the delivery room after one hour, not seven.

Another of her familiar cries pierced his ears, and he looked at his lap, clenching his fists in frustration. When he saw his hands, he paused and stared at them, and then, slowly, unfurled his fingers so he could fold his hands. If he was going to be baptized, then now was as good a time as any to start praying.

"Dear God," Fang mumbled under his breath, feeling kind of dumb-- was this the right way to do it? It wasn't like he'd had a lot of religious training. At this moment, though, it was the only thing he knew to do, so he kept going. "Please let Max be okay. And please let our kids be born healthy." He bit his lip. "And please bring Gracie and Devin home safely. Amen."

He stayed in that position, his eyes half open, fingers intertwined, some black hair falling in his face, for a long moment, letting the words sink in. And then, just as he began to look up again, he heard a familiar call of, "Daddy!" coming from a little ways down the hall.

Part of Fang's prayer was already being answered.

0000000000

Gracie ran into her father's embrace, squealing with joy. They hadn't parted on the best of notes, but that all seemed forgotten as he squeezed her hard and kissed the top of her head. She willed herself not to cry, but the moment was too emotional not to shed a tear or two.

Daddy gently pulled away and smiled at her, touching her cheek with the backs of his fingers, before moving over to give Devin a one-armed hug. She could have sworn she saw tears shining in his own eyes, but decided it was just the reflection of the light, since Daddy never cried.

"Is Momma having the babies?" Gracie asked, glancing at the closed door of the delivery room.

Daddy nodded, released Devin, and took his seat again, motioning for them to do the same.

"Why are you out here, then?" she asked, sitting on one side while Devin sat on the other.

He grinned, the grin that, according to Mom, made all the girls' knees buckle. "She kicked me out."

Gracie giggled, wrapping her arms around her dad's and leaning her head against his shoulder. "Sounds like Momma."

"Sure does."

The three of them laughed together, and Gracie breathed in the smell of hospital and newborn baby and her dad. And to think, months ago, that she'd felt like she came second to these smells, this long-awaited night. Until now, she'd failed to see the truth: her parents weren't putting anything above her. They were just making her a part of something special.

**Aww. That's all fixed up.**

**Now to see if the babies survive!**

**Review, please?**


	22. Chapter 22

About twenty minutes later, Grandma, Aunt Ella, Iggy and Angel came back from the hospital cafeteria. When they saw Gracie and Devin, their jaws dropped, except for Iggy's; he wanted to know why everyone had suddenly gone quiet.

"You're back!" Angel shrieked, charging them and throwing her arms around them.

"How long have you been home?" Grandma asked, coming around Angel to hug Devin from the side. He humored her for a minute, but then his bones started aching, so he gently disentangled himself from her.

"How long has _who_ been home?" Iggy called out irritably.

"Hi, Iggy," Gracie said cheerily, and his face lit up. Devin let Ella hug him, and then he stepped back, having had enough of the emotional reunion stuff for a while. He watched Gracie hug everyone twice as he sunk down beside his dad.

"Not one for hugs, are you, man?" Dad asked, continuing to look straight ahead.

"Nope." Devin knew neither of them were-- they were _exactly_ alike-- but earlier, when he'd seen his dad sitting there with his head bowed, and Gracie had yelled out "Daddy!", and Dad's head had snapped up, his face lighting up, Devin had wanted nothing more than a hug from his father. And he'd gotten one.

The others sat down around them, Iggy and Ella pulling up chairs from other parts of the room. Gracie started telling everyone their story; Devin sat back and looked around, half-listening. A clock on the wall said it was 9:14. How long was this going to take, anyway?

A few minutes later, when Gracie was talking about their great escape from the School, a voice called, "Mr. Ride?"

Everyone turned to see Mom's doctor, Dr. Gordon, standing outside the delivery room. Dad immediately stood up and hurried over there. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine." Dr. Gordon smiled. "She's entered the second stage of labor. She wants you back in here."

Dad smirked in a knew-she-couldn't-go-without-me-for-long way before stepping into the room after the doctor, the door swinging shut behind them. As soon as they were gone, everyone exploded into a new conversation, this time about when the babies would come and how long it would be before Dad got kicked out again and who the heck had suggested Missouri for the girl.

When one of his mom's screams filtered into the waiting room, Devin had to fight his own urge to run in there himself. It was comforting to know Dad was with her, but he still felt protective of his whole family.

He closed his eyes and blocked out the others' chatter so he could concentrate. _Voice?_

He waited, but no sound came from inside his head.

_Come on, I need you. I'm worried about my mom and my little brother and sister, and… there's no one here I can say that to._

Still nothing. Devin sighed and made himself open his eyes.

Then there was a loud sigh echoing through his head. _Alright. I'm here._

An involuntarily grin stretched across Devin's face, and he ducked his head so nobody would see it. _Thanks._

_No problem._

A comfortable silence followed the exchange (what an odd sentence… a comfortable silence in a conversation in your head?), and then Devin decided to ask a question he hadn't even thought of before. _Do you have a name?_

The Voice paused. _I'm not technically supposed to tell you that._

_Were you supposed to tell me all about your school and friends and ex-boyfriend?_

_Well, no… _She paused again. _Okay. Don't laugh. My name's Calliope. But… my friends call me Callie._

Devin smiled and nodded, and even though he didn't respond with an actual thought, he knew she got it.

0000000000

It was finally over.

I was tired and wide awake, exhausted and excited, wanting to cry from joy for my new twins and sorrow from missing my older ones.

"I'm so proud of you," Fang murmured, wiping the sweat from my forehead with his sleeve. "You did amazing."

"Are they okay?" I asked, wanting to sit up but not able to find the strength. "Where are they?"

"They took them for some tests and stuff," he said, smoothing my damp hair. "But they're fine. Bigger than other preemies born at seven months. Probably the bird thing."

"Good." I sagged back into the pillows, letting my eyes flutter closed. "What time is it?"

"Two in the morning."

"Anyone outside?"

When he didn't say anything, I opened my eyes and raised my eyebrows. There was a small smile on his face, like he knew something I didn't.

"Fang," I said. "Who's outside?"

Without answering, Fang turned around and headed for the door. Dr. Gordon and the nurse who'd assisted her were no longer in the room; I assumed they'd left with the babies. I propped myself up on my elbows and squinted as Fang pulled open the door, revealing two beaming faces that I hadn't seen in way, way too long.

You didn't really think I'd kill off the babies, did you? I'm not THAT mean. : )

**One more regular chapter. And then an epilogue.**

**Only three more opportunities to review, guys! Take one of them… right now!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Ahh! The last regular chapter! Wow, I can't believe it's already almost over. Once more, thanks so much, you guys, for reading and reviewing and keeping me wanting to finish the trilogy even when I lost interest!**

"I missed you guys," I said as Gracie and Devin leaned down and hugged me. I held them close, one of my arms around each of them. When they pulled away, I saw that their faces were tired and battered and dirty and they'd lost a little weight, but overall they looked okay.

"We missed you too, Momma," Gracie said, kissing me on the cheek. "Where's Blake and Missouri?"

"They'll be back after they're tested and clean and stuff," I told her. "So where have _you_ two been?"

Gracie told me how Markus had driven her to the School and had henchmen ready to grab her when she tried to escape, and Devin described getting shot out of the sky and waking up in a cage next to Gracie's. They told me how Markus was Chu's son and how they'd blown up the School, and how Devin had gotten a Voice-- my Voice's daughter, apparently-- that helped them.

"The Voice is his girlfriend," Gracie announced.

"Your _girlfriend_?" I asked incredulously.

Fang and I both looked at Devin, who reddened slightly. Before we could press for an explanation, though, Dr. Gordon came in, pushing open the swinging door with her hip, carrying a baby in each arm.

"Ready to see your little miracles?" she asked, smiling softly. Fang sat down beside me and Gracie and Devin backed away from the bed so the doctor could get through. I held my arms out to receive Blake, wrapped in a blue blanket, and Fang took Missouri, bundled up in a pink one. Dr. Gordon whispered that she'd let us be alone for a few minutes, and then she left.

I immediately moved the blanket to the side to peer at Blake's back, and Fang did the same to Missouri. To my immense relief, they both had tiny little featherless wings folded neatly into their spines. If they hadn't had wings, I would have loved them all the same, but I was glad they had them anyway.

"Look at my little girl," Fang whispered, touching her soft cheek. I leaned my head against his shoulder, marveling at the tiny human being he was cradling in his arms. Our little baby.

"She's beautiful," I said honestly, unable to resist tweaking her miniscule button nose.

Fang turned his head so our faces were only inches apart. "Yeah. She looks just like you."

I smiled as he kissed me, then turned my attention to Blake. He had a head full of black hair sticking straight up, and when he sleepily opened his eyes, I gasped. "Fang, look."

He looked, and so did Gracie and Devin. There was no mistaking: Blake's eyes were a bright, piercing emerald, such a beautiful color I found it hard to look away from them. The older twins both had Fang's black eyes, and Missouri had my brown ones; this green was a new development.

"Here's our little black sheep," I whispered, leaning down to kiss Blake's forehead.

Fang looked up at the kids, standing quietly beside the bed. "Gracie, come here."

Gracie walked around to his side and sat on the edge of the bed when he motioned her to. He carefully handed Missouri to her, making sure her head was in the crook of Gracie's elbow, and asked, "What's her middle name?"

Gracie looked at him, confused, and he grinned. I did, too, as I watched him explain. "Mom and I want you and Devin to pick their middle names."

"Ooh!" Gracie looked back down at Missouri. "Oh my gosh, that's awesome. 'Cause I actually had an idea for hers. Missouri Mirari."

Missouri Mirari Ride. We all thought about it for a minute, letting it sink it, and then I said, "That sounds great." Then Fang nodded at me, and I turned to Devin. "Here."

Devin hesitated, but then he sat on the bed, too, and let me hand Blake to him. He took a couple minutes to just look at his little brother, studying his face, letting Blake close his tiny fingers around his bigger one, before saying, "Halyn?"

"Blake Halyn." I tested how it sounded coming out of my mouth. "Blake Halyn Ride. I like it."

I looked around at the people in this room with me: my strong and silent husband, my wannabe emo son, my preppy daughter, and my two babies who had their whole lives ahead of them, whole lives to discover who they would be. And now, with all of them here, I felt like every piece in the puzzle of my life was perfectly in place.

0000000000

After he'd given Blake his middle name, a surprise that had caused a warm feeling in his gut, Devin handed the baby back to his mom and sat down in a chair. Gracie gave Missouri to Dad and came to sit beside him, and now the two were watching their parents speak in hushed tones as they admired their newborns.

There was no doubt that his parents were in love. Even Devin, with his lack of experience in that department, could tell that the way they looked at each other, the way they kissed good morning and laughed together, was something special. From stories they'd told, and ones from the rest of the flock, he knew that Mom and Dad had been the best of friends their whole lives. He knew that Mom had always tried to be the tough one who wouldn't let anyone see her weaker side… except for Dad. They'd fallen in love because they knew each other inside and out, could practically read each other's minds, and had grown so close as a result of it.

Devin narrowed his eyes as certain parts of his thoughts gave him déjà vu. Tough one who only let one person see a weaker side… could read each other's minds…

He watched as his dad ran a hand over Missouri's peach fuzz, then fingered a strand of Mom's hair, seeming to be comparing mother and daughter's hair color. Devin thought about how they'd ended up here, happily married with four kids, all the things that had led to this wonderful moment in their lives.

They'd started out as best friends.

Devin smiled. Because Callie was definitely his best friend.

0000000000

The next day, after we'd slept for about twelve hours, Fang went and fetched the babies from the nursery and brought them in to me. I smiled as I took Missouri from him. He lay down beside me, stretched on his side, and gently maneuvered Blake so he was resting on my chest. I lay Missouri beside him and looked down at them, their fingers curled into small fists.

"This is amazing," Fang whispered, cupping my cheek so he could pull my head closer to his and kiss my temple. "Absolutely amazing."

"It is," I agreed, raking my fingers through Blake's hair. Today, the best day of my life, was January 27; it was the babies' birthday and the day my other kids came home safe. The day I gave birth to the children of the man I loved and lay beside him, admiring said children. It was perfect. As Fang said… _absolutely_ perfect.

"Where're Gracie and Devin?" Fang asked, draping a protective arm over me and the twins.

"Went downstairs," I answered.

"Ah. So we're alone." He smirked and leaned in to kiss me on the mouth, but I pushed him away, laughing.

"We're _sort of _alone," I reminded him, nodding at the babies sleeping on my chest. "Watch it."

"A little kiss won't scar them for life," Fang said. Once his lips were on mine, I couldn't help but agree, so I kissed him back. It wasn't a long kiss or a quick one, just a few seconds of bliss before Missouri opened her mouth and let out a loud wail.

I sighed as we broke apart. "Get used to the next few weeks."

He shrugged. "It won't be that bad. At least we'll be together."

From the hallway, I suddenly heard Gracie yelling, "Devin, that's _my_ donut, give it to me!" and rolled my eyes.

"I'm still hungry."

"Then go get more food, stupid!"

"Yeah," I told Fang, grinning at him. "At least we'll have that."

**When this story started, I seriously did not plan on Devin getting a girl. It didn't even occur to me until I started writing the part where the Voice first came into the story, and then I'm like, Oooh… idea! So yeah.**

**Two more opportunities to review this thing, guys. **_**Please**_** take one of 'em right now?**


	24. Epilogue

**Oh my goodness, it's the epilogue! Which I wrote at, approximately… the end of February. So this has been over for me for quite some time, but I've still been posting chapters about Max and Fang and Gracie and Devin, and reading your guys' reviews, and since I've spent the last… six months on this trilogy, I've totally fallen in love with this family. And I just can't thank you guys enough. You're the best.**

**Be sure to read author's note at the end of the chapter!**

_One Year Later_

"Are you guys ready?" I stood with my arms crossed at the bottom of the stairs. During my pregnancy, when I was fat and moody and vulnerable, I may have let Fang take more control of this household, but now I was back at full speed, and I was wearing the pants again. "Don't make us late!"

"I'm ready," came Devin's voice, and I jumped and spun around. There he was, sitting on the couch in the living room, texting-- as usual. I'd been filled in on the friendship with his Voice that had developed while the kids were at the School, and after much discussion, I'd finally agreed to let him give her his number. Now nobody ever saw him without that phone either in his hands or clutched to his ear, but I didn't mind _too_ much. It was good for Devin to have a friend; up to now, he'd always kept to himself. However, I tended to agree with Gracie's accusations that he had a crush on Callie.

In addition to his affection for Callie, he had developed a soft spot for Blake, who I now saw was sitting on Devin's lap as he texted. His dark hair was combed, and he was wearing khaki pants and a blue button-up shirt. I hadn't dressed him-- Devin must have.

"Is your sister upstairs?" I asked him.

"Yeah."

I sighed and hurried up the stairs. "Seriously, can we _not_ be late for our baptism?"

"Would you chill?" Fang came out of our bedroom, wearing his usual church ensemble: black slacks and a black polo. Asking him to wear a tie had never worked in the past; I wasn't going to try again. "We have plenty of time."

"We really--"

"Sorry, Momma," Gracie called, stepping out of her room down the hall. She was wearing a knee-length dress, her curls loose around her shoulders, and she looked gorgeous. In her arms was Missouri, her blonde hair in a barrette, wearing a dress of her own. "She was squirming around."

"That's fine," I said, smiling as I held out my arms for the baby. Gracie handed her over, and Missouri grinned as she grabbed at my hair. "Missy, no."

"Momma," she cooed. That was one word I never got tired of hearing from this girl. It was her first word, and Blake's, too. I really had gotten my second chance at raising my twins for their entire lives, and when those two syllables slipped through their lips, I knew it. I knew it so well that both times they said my name for the first time, I burst into tears.

"She's so sweet," Gracie said, reaching down to reposition a shoe that was slipping from Missouri's foot. "I just love her."

I had been informed of Gracie's feeling neglected and how that had led to her going back to Markus. I never told her that I knew, but even if we didn't talk about it, I could tell that she didn't feel that way anymore. She'd been so helpful this past year, even offering to take care of the babies in the middle of the night so Fang and I could catch up on our sleep. They had become her new project, what she was pouring all her time and energy into, and I couldn't be more grateful-- both for the help and for my daughter being okay again.

"Me too," I said. "Now c'mon, guys. Let's roll."

Gracie led the way down the stairs, and I followed with Missouri. Fang slipped his fingers through my free ones, and I squeezed his hand.

"We're ready, Devin," I said once we were at the bottom. "And please don't text at church, okay?"

"I won't," he said, slipping the phone in his pocket and standing up, Blake on his hip. "I'm not _totally_ dumb."

I rolled my eyes, but I was smiling. Gracie went outside, and Devin followed her. Fang, still holding my hand, stepped aside to let me go ahead of him, but I paused as I was about to step out and looked behind me.

The picture of our first kiss as husband and wife was still there, but now, a different one was beside it. The picture taken before our wedding had been replaced by one my mom took of all six of us. It was taken in our front yard the day we brought the babies home; the older four of us were beaming, and though Missouri and Blake weren't nearly as enthusiastic, I loved the picture. This was my family, the family I'd more or less created, and with the only person in the world I would want to do so with.

"What are you looking at?" Fang asked, glancing behind him.

"Nothing." I turned back around and tugged on his hand. "Come on."

We walked outside, with Missouri in my arm and Gracie twirling in the yard and Devin still on that stupid phone, and headed for our new van. Everyone climbed in, and once I was done strapping in Blake and Missouri, I looked around. "Ready?"

Gracie and Devin said yes and Missouri squealed happily, and I got into the passenger seat as Fang started the car. We pulled out and drove on down the road, on our way to seal our forever.

**And that, my friends, is a wrap.**

**Two things: obviously, Devin didn't meet Callie in this chapter. But due to the number of people who expected/wanted that to happen, you can expect a one-shot in the future that details their first encounter. I'm not sure what that will be called or when it will be posted, but I'll try to make it fairly soon. So be on the lookout.**

**Also, I mentioned a few chapters ago that I may have another Maximum Ride story in the works. That may not be posted for a while, either, and I don't have a title for it yet, and I don't want to give anything away-- but I will tell you to look for a summary with the name Lovette in it. And don't worry, it is NOT one of those stories with all original characters and almost no connection to Maximum Ride. It is very much Maximum Ride fan fiction. Just trust me on that one.**

**Alright. So… guess my little spiel here is over. I hope you enjoyed the epilogue and the story and the whole trilogy. Keep your eyes peeled for the stories mentioned above, and take advantage of your VERY LAST CHANCE to review this thing. : D**


	25. Author's Note

**Okay. So.**

**I'm going to delete this note in a couple days, but I wanted to tell you guys some stuff.**

**Remember the story that had something to do with someone named Lovette? Well, I FINALLY posted it. It is called If I Was Nowhere. I plan on updating it at least every other day.**

**As a side note, here is a list of all the stories I have posted that go along with this trilogy:**

**Baby Girl**

**In This Moment**

**Linens**

**Maternal Instincts**

**The Promise of Honey**

**What Went Before**

**Check 'em out! Enjoy! :)**


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